Eleanor Balsis Krueger's Obituary
Eleanor Balsis Krueger, age 99 years young, died on Monday, June 11, 2018, in Gainesville, FL.
Ellie was predeceased in death by beloved son-Gary (13), loving husband-Alexander (71), and younger brother-Elvin Joseph (38). She is survived by her sister-Mary Ann (Jim), Ellie’s children-Alan (Ade), Terrylynn (George), Karen (Ken) and Scott (Paula), grandchildren-Dawn, Traci (Jay), Laura, Amy (Mike), Michael, Brian (Veruska), Katherine, Rebecca, great grandchildren-Avi, Olivia, Ashley, Joshua, Julia, niece Sally, and nephews Jim (Barb), John (Mildred), Mike (Maria) and Brian (Tricia).
Born in Minersville, PA in 1919, Eleanor grew up in nearby Pottsville the eldest of three children. After high school she graduated from Peirce Business School in Philadelphia. When WWII started, Eleanor was called by the War Department to Washington, D.C., where her strong math skills had her coding and decoding encrypted telegraphs all day. Asked by her commanding general to transfer with him, Eleanor’s secretarial skills then took her career up to Newark, N.J. It was there she met an Army Air Corps bandsman named Alex, and their marriage took them to Alabama during the remainder of the war. In 1945, Alex and El headed back to Newark (and then Irvington), where she perfected her career as a homemaker, raising five children (as well as being an "Avon lady"). El could always sweeten Alex with her lemon meringue pie, and she quickly mastered all the culinary arts of cooking and baking. In 1968, Alex retired and the couple, along with their youngest, headed south to the sunshine of North Miami Beach. El and Alex later relocated to Margate, FL, and following the death of Alex in 1986, Ellie again relocated, this time to Gainesville. Here she started a new chapter of life where she joined the Women’s Club, and regularly volunteered for years at the Friends of the Library, the Harn Museum, the Supervisor of elections, and helping students read at Hidden Oak Elementary.
Before we knew it, thirty something more years had passed and it seemed that Ellie might rewrite life expectancy tables. You could often see her twinkling eyes and smile pumping iron at GHF since its Westgate days. And, then, time started to catch up, and it ultimately prevailed.
Eleanor leaves us with so many examples of how she conducted her life-with honesty, integrity, dignity, trust, patience, loyalty (and the list could keep going on). We are now left with memories and prayers as our voices have said their last goodbyes. We hope our tears will buoy her spirit as she reunites with the loved ones who predeceased her. We know the love from family and friends will carry her into eternity. Goodbye Eleanor, Ellie, El. Goodbye Mom. While your modesty always denied it, you are remarkable, and we all love you.
A service will be held at 1:30 pm, on Saturday, June 16, 2018, at the Harbor Chase Assisted Living Center in Gainesville. Ellie and the family would like to thank all those wonderful caregivers who assisted her in recent years. In lieu of flowers, please consider contributions to Friends of the Library or the American Heart Association. Please visit her memorial page at www.williamsthomasfuneralhome.com.
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