Mildred Thomas Kruse Ruark

Mildred Thomas Kruse Ruark, 89, a 35-year Carson City resident died Jan. 15, 2007, at Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center.

Mrs. Ruark was born Jan. 11, 1918, in Paso Robles, Calif., to Brenard J. Thomas and Mildred Emily Lemmen.

She married Edward Kruse in Carson City, and later married Charles Ruark in Gerlach.

Prior to living in Carson City, she lived in Reno.

Mrs. Ruark graduated from Oakland (Calif.) Tech High School in 1936 and from the California School of Cosmetology in Oakland in 1937.

She was a homemaker, Realtor and Democratic Party activist.

She was a founding member of the Lutheran Church of Good Shepherd in Reno and a member of the Eastern Star Nevada Chapter 13.

Mrs. Ruark was preceded in death by her sister, Marion Wilson of Wenatchee, Wash., in 1968; and second husband, Charles Ruark, in Carson City in 1998.

Among her survivors are her daughter and son-in-law, Rae and Roy Engelhardt of Carson City; son and daughter-in-law, Thomas and Laura Kruse of Washoe Valley; stepchildren and their spouses Barbara and George Allison of Carson City, Joan and Jim Maguire of Reno; first husband, Edward Kruse of Reno; 16 grandchildren; 24 great-grandchildren; four great-great-grandchildren; one niece; and two nephews.

Contributions may be made to the Nevada Women's Fund, 770 Southridge Drive, Suite 300, Reno, NV, 89502.

Walton's Chapel of the Valley in Carson City is in charge of arrangements.