Join us as we share the remarkable life of Bill Kruschel, an extraordinary 99-year-old, whose journey from a World War II Navy medic to a beloved member of the White Bear Lake community is nothing short of inspiring. This episode paints a vivid portrait of Bill's early years in St. Paul, Minnesota, his experiences during the Great Depression, and his career ascent at 3M. Bill attributes his longevity and active lifestyle to his mother's influence and a positive outlook, sharing insights on his career transition from the shop floor to management to celebrating his 99th birthday with zest and vigor.
We then turn our attention to the tireless advocacy of a dedicated father whose son with disabilities moved into a group home at 19. His efforts to expand education and care for children/youth with disabilities into a network of homes stand as a testament to unwavering commitment and love. You’ll also hear about his passion for music, riding motorcycles until the age of 94, and the joy he now finds in riding an electric tricycle around White Bear Lake. The local community's excitement over an owl's nest adds a charming touch to this heartfelt narrative.
Lastly, immerse yourself in nostalgic tales of building a fold-down trailer, wartime camaraderie, and the unforgettable Bob Hope shows. This episode is rich with personal recollections, from the Seattle World's Fair to the profound impact of Scouting. Look forward to an upcoming special featuring Bill and his siblings, promising an enriching and heartwarming experience. Tune in to celebrate the goodwill, courage, and determination that define these incredible life stories.
Join us as we share the remarkable life of Bill Kruschel, an extraordinary 99-year-old, whose journey from a World War II Navy medic to a beloved member of the White Bear Lake community is nothing short of inspiring. This episode paints a vivid portrait of Bill's early years in St. Paul, Minnesota, his experiences during the Great Depression, and his career ascent at 3M. Bill attributes his longevity and active lifestyle to his mother's influence and a positive outlook, sharing insights on his career transition from the shop floor to management to celebrating his 99th birthday with zest and vigor.
We then turn our attention to the tireless advocacy of a dedicated father whose son with disabilities moved into a group home at 19. His efforts to expand education and care for children/youth with disabilities into a network of homes stand as a testament to unwavering commitment and love. You’ll also hear about his passion for music, riding motorcycles until the age of 94, and the joy he now finds in riding an electric tricycle around White Bear Lake. The local community's excitement over an owl's nest adds a charming touch to this heartfelt narrative.
Lastly, immerse yourself in nostalgic tales of building a fold-down trailer, wartime camaraderie, and the unforgettable Bob Hope shows. This episode is rich with personal recollections, from the Seattle World's Fair to the profound impact of Scouting. Look forward to an upcoming special featuring Bill and his siblings, promising an enriching and heartwarming experience. Tune in to celebrate the goodwill, courage, and determination that define these incredible life stories.
Welcome to Stories in Life. You're on the radio with Mark and Joe. We share stories that affirm your belief in the goodwill, courage, determination, commitment and vision of everyday people.
Mark Wolak:Our goal is that through another person's story you may find connection. No matter your place in life. The stories we select will be inspiring and maybe help you laugh, cry, think or change your mind about something important in your life.
Joe Boyle:Join us for this episode of Stories in Life.
Joe Boyle:Mark. We have a very special guest today. He's a husband, a father, a former tool and die machinist, a current singer and an avid bike rider, a World War II Navy medic and a not-so-disabled veteran. We welcome 99-year-old Bill K Crucial.
Mark Wolak:Welcome Bill.
Mark Wolak:It's a real pleasure to have you here today.
Joe Boyle:Can you tell us about where you live right now, B ill?
Bill Kruschel:Well, there's a heaven on earth and it's called White Bear Lake, Minnesota. As you know, we're on a 2,400 acre lake. I'm three blocks from the lake in a senior development three stories high. I have a beautiful apartment on the main floor. Three steps to go down and I'm out in the world of White Bear Lake, and it's opened a whole new world for me. That I recall as a child and, as you said, when I ride my trike around there, it's an experience that you only can get by going with me, I guess. Well, it's a beautiful old, established community right on the lake.
Mark Wolak:It is really stunning, beautiful little town.
Bill Kruschel:And the best thing are the people. Yeah, you can't believe the people I've met just riding around the lake.
Joe Boyle:And you can walk right into town there and go to the restaurants or whatever, right?
Bill Kruschel:Well, it's a whole block and a half to. Grandma's Bakery, so I bet that's a normal stop for you, right? Where are you originally from, B bill?
Bill Kruschel:I was born on 6th and Mendota on the east side of St Paul in 1925 in a two-story building. My dad was running the upstairs and then in about 1929, he bought a house right off of the old Hudson Road, four blocks towards St Paul from Earl Street, 181, maple Street, and we lived there until my father passed away in 1933. Then we moved to a farm with my uncle out in. I don't know if you ever heard of Denmark Township in Washington County. Yes, I've heard of it.
Bill Kruschel:It's the farthest southeast county, mostly along the river, and we were two miles off the St Croix River, four miles from Old Cottage Grove, and we lived there until 1937 when my mother and the three of us moved to St Paul Park and I really call that home because. Number one we were really accepted into the community. Number two it was a delight to have an indoor bathroom with a shower. I've been taking a shower every day since. Oh my gosh, was that beautiful.
Bill Kruschel:And then, during the war, my mother moved to St Paul and so when I got back out of the service in 46, I lived with her and my sister and brother right on the east side of St Paul. And then I got married in 48, and I moved to St Paul Park and I bought a piece of property with a two-story barn that held four horses and a little house alongside of it for $2,500. Wow. And then I got to buy the beautiful home right across the street so I could get out of the barn. And in 50, I went to work for 3M and I was one of the first guys out of the shop to go into management.
Joe Boyle:And what did you do for 3M?
Bill Kruschel:So that's when things really started to sail for me. I went down there in 57. I come back in 68. And then in 68, I lived on Otter Lake for nine years and then I bought a home right off the corner of Stillwater Road and Century and I lived there until 82 when I got divorced. And then I ended up. I bought a beautiful little home there were three homes together right on White Bear Avenue, a block and a half south of Maplewood Mall and then I ended up. I bought a beautiful little home there were three homes together right on White Bear Avenue, a block and a half south of Maplewood Mall. I was there for gosh 20-some years and then all of a sudden I ended up where I'm at today.
Joe Boyle:Which is not bad. When I picked you up this morning, I was admiring the place. I wouldn't mind ending up in a place like that someday.
Mark Wolak:Now you just had a birthday, B bill, yeah, yeah, and I don't know that our listeners know your milestone here. So you turned 99 years old in March, yep.
Bill Kruschel:Well, congratulations. Well, at our facility, we have a beautiful dining room and kitchen and it's big enough to hold 50 people and I had 55 for my birthday.
Mark Wolak:Oh, that's. Fantastic. It's okay. Well, I can tell you, you hold the record for age.
Joe Boyle:As one of our guests, I tell you.
Mark Wolak:No, it was a delightful birthday believe me, yeah, you sound like you're really active and really take good care of your health. What do you attribute to your longevity?
Bill Kruschel:Well, first, of all, my mother and her positive thinking towards all three of us, giving us a real goal in life. And somehow, at the beginning of coming back from the service I started to think about I can't wait till tomorrow.
Mark Wolak:I started to think about. I can't wait till tomorrow and that's been a way of life for me. Yeah, that's remarkable. So we do want to talk a little bit about your service to the country yeah, we'll get there yeah, but you know, we're also intrigued with, um uh, your health and your and your outlook on life. That's a very important thing today for people to think about.
Bill Kruschel:Oh boy.
Joe Boyle:Didn't your mom have a saying you when we were driving the other day? You, you mentioned that she always had kind of a motto. Remember that.
Bill Kruschel:Yeah, and her motto was can't wait till tomorrow.
Mark Wolak:Oh was it Okay. Oh, that's great.
Bill Kruschel:Can you imagine being a widow in 1933?
Joe Boyle:no right right when the depression was in full swing.
Mark Wolak:You know, sometimes it takes a a while for a generation or a family to understand the power of what took place. You so I was reflecting on my dad's experience. His dad died in 1939. My mother's mother died in 1939. They both met across the fence, you know they were on neighboring farms. Wow, and I would. I would imagine the death of their parents had a big impact on their decisions to get married and start a family. You know that it had a big impact on their decisions to get married and start a family. Those are kind of my reflections about that time period. But your mother also raised her children through the Depression, which is amazing.
Bill Kruschel:She came over here in 1923 as a 26-year-old and she couldn't read, write or talk the language.
Mark Wolak:And what was home for her.
Bill Kruschel:Germany, germany, okay, 30 miles south of Denmark. And she had only one ambition I got to learn to speak English and write and read it. But she never got over her German accent, you know. And so immediately after arriving here, my uncle had friends in St Paul that she went to and she found out they had an English-speaking school at the old German house just west of the Capitol building and my dad was the teacher in the class. He was from Berlin. So that's how it all started out Love at first sight and a little side story.
Bill Kruschel:My mother always had her German accent and everybody knew her Martha with the German accent, you know. And one day she was about 80 years old, she said Billy, I can't figure out that. Henry Kissinger oh, is that right, ma? Why not? He's been here for 20 years and he still don't speak good English. She was also the kind of lady that God never intended her to drive a car, and somehow, when we lived on the farm, she bought a 27 Chevy two-door and I learned to drive it when I was 12 years old.
Mark Wolak:A 27 Chevy? I don't even know. I can't even picture a 27 Chevy. I got a picture of it at home.
Bill Kruschel:And here's one for you. When I turned 16 in 1941, I drove it all alone from St Paul Park to Stillwater on the old gravel roads and put a half a buck on the counter at the courthouse, and they gave me my driver's license.
Joe Boyle:Just that easy, and they never asked me how I got there.
Bill Kruschel:That's great.
Joe Boyle:What kids go through now for?
Mark Wolak:their license. Exactly, yeah, exactly.
Joe Boyle:So you had two or three siblings, right?
Bill Kruschel:Three.
Joe Boyle:Three and you have your own children, and are they still around?
Bill Kruschel:Oh yeah, All three are going strong. Billy is, you know, retired and he and his wife are special education teachers up in the Cambridge area.
Joe Boyle:How old's Billy.
Bill Kruschel:Oh, he's a lot younger than me. He's 75. 75. And my daughter Kathy is 73. Okay, and my son Jeff is 67. All retired, yep, but my youngest son was one of the big influences on our lives as a handicapped man and all the things that went with it. It was a big part of a huge part of my life Still is huh.
Bill Kruschel:Yeah, not to the extent, though, when I go back when Jeff was six years old, in Hutchinson there were no classes, so I was the guy that went to the school board and got the class going. What school district was that, I don't remember, but Hutchinson had covered a big area.
Mark Wolak:Okay, okay.
Bill Kruschel:You know, west of Minneapolis.
Mark Wolak:Yeah.
Bill Kruschel:But I got it. But where do you think they put the classroom? In the basement.
Mark Wolak:Oh, but I had it yeah.
Bill Kruschel:Then they classified those children back then as educable and non-educable. Jeff was educable, but the school bus wouldn't pick him up because he was handicapped. Yeah, you know that's how crazy it was. Yeah, Then there was no school for the other kids and I found a schoolhouse halfway between Hutchinson and Glencoe in a little town called Biskey, a two-story schoolhouse, brick.
Joe Boyle:My grandfather was born in Biskey.
Mark Wolak:You know it's so interesting because this was not a topic that we thought we would be visiting with you about today, but your son. You broke ground for your son and, in my life, my niece, who now is deceased. She was one of the first students to be fully integrated into regular classrooms in St Cloud schools.
Bill Kruschel:Oh my gosh.
Mark Wolak:Mandy was considered educable right and that we've certainly changed the language today, but it is interesting to think about the difference for these children today and how much more welcoming we are to children with disabilities.
Bill Kruschel:So Bill and his wife Jenny and all three of their kids are involved in it.
Mark Wolak:In special education. Special education, yeah Wow.
Bill Kruschel:And their daughter, casey, is working for a great big company out of New Jersey. She taught in the 916 school district here for quite a few years. She's got her master's degree too, and she's working full-time for them, traveling the whole United States.
Mark Wolak:Well, think about the influence that you had by what you did as a dad right to advocate for your son to be included, to some degree in a regular school program.
Bill Kruschel:And back then it was an experience of a lifetime, you know, I got to talk with Governor Anderson, get things going Gosh, there was nothing, you know. And then I got on somehow on the list of volunteers with Dr Bill Canuck in the 916 school when it started. So I really got involved in that whole scenario. You know, I could write a book just about what I did and enjoyed and see the results of today yeah, well, today you know so what what he's talking about is.
Mark Wolak:there was a time when school districts didn't know what to do, so they actually formed in legislation three intermediate districts to meet the needs of these kids, and so it went to the legislature and they funded it.
Joe Boyle:What year was that about, oh?
Bill Kruschel:man, oh, back in the 60s yeah.
Mark Wolak:So remarkable.
Bill Kruschel:When I look back as having been associated with that, it was the biggest part of my life really, you know, to see it all happen. Even in hutchinson days I went around to all the schools and talked to them about special ed and what it took to get there. You know, and nobody knew what I was talking about. Yeah, you know what are you talking about. We can't get our kid in there. Yeah, you get it, it's there. All we have have to do is go after it.
Mark Wolak:You know, you did some champion-level work there.
Joe Boyle:Yeah, you were a shining example of what an average citizen can do.
Bill Kruschel:Yeah, but what a great part of my life, right.
Bill Kruschel:Good for you, Bill, To see the results of it. And my son today, Jeff, you know he never had a sick day in his life until about six months ago. And they today, Jeff, you know he never had a sick day in his life until about six months ago and they noticed a little thing on his neck and he had cancer and went through chemotherapy three times and a whole nine yards and I think we only could figure out one sick day he ever had. Wow, and he's up and running again. Wow, but he retired. He worked for Kowalski's for many years.
Mark Wolak:Now, you mentioned that he was in a group home, right? So you got that to happen at some point. Yeah, for him oh, do you remember at what age he? Was sure he was 19 years old 19, yep, he's had a strong life, oh oh, you know, and the couple that from kowalski's, yeah, the.
Bill Kruschel:The story never ends with that people, because the couple that started it started it in their own home with two or three handicapped children. The group home.
Bill Kruschel:Yeah, and today she owns six or seven houses and I don't know how big her staff is. But you just can't imagine because she's one of the ladies that everybody looks toward if they're looking for an idea what is handicapped facilities and what are they and how are they. And the day I'll never forget is her husband, tony unfortunately died about five years ago, but when I finished signing the papers with him, he looked me right in the eye and he says Mr Crucial, your son is going to have a home the rest of his life.
Mark Wolak:Wow.
Joe Boyle:Isn't that?
Mark Wolak:something. What a great feeling, huh, as a dad.
Joe Boyle:That's great.
Bill Kruschel:And she's still running the show. Yeah.
Joe Boyle:How old is she?
Bill Kruschel:about. Oh, jeannie is the same age as Billy 75.
Mark Wolak:Okay, so you know one of the things that I've thought about and maybe you have some insights into where you're living today. But this connection, this historical connection that you have to advocacy in the schools and advocating for your own children, what do you hear from people that live in your community? What do you hear from them in terms of their connections to schools?
Bill Kruschel:The older community doesn't talk about it. Okay, okay, I have to talk to young people. Okay, you know, the group I live with are all the way from 70s up, you know yeah.
Mark Wolak:Because I've had a superintendent in the West Metro ask about this. You know a way to engage the community differently. Obviously, you're a lifelong learner. You're here doing a podcast. I would imagine that that's a pretty unique thing to do in your community.
Bill Kruschel:Sure, but just to give you a little insight into how great the things were, one day I got the biggest school bus I could find and parked it in front of the Capitol and invited any legislators that wanted to to come along with me and let them see what their monies were doing. I filled the bus up just like that.
Joe Boyle:How about?
Bill Kruschel:that and you can tell I don't like to talk, but I had a microphone and we start out and back then there weren't any facilities. So we were the educational system was renting facilities for handicapped schools, One of which was on highway 36, right off of Lake Phelan.
Bill Kruschel:It was a brass-covered Baptist church, okay, and we stopped there and I gave everybody a tour about what we were doing and they were blown away by what they saw. And then I took them to the 916 school and Dr Bill Canuck and I set it all up because they had a great class in cooks, and boy did I have a luncheon for these people. In addition to that, we put on about an hour and a half show and the day ended like something you can't even imagine. I got on the bus and I just said I'm not going to say another word, and you could have heard a pin drop all the way to the Capitol. Every one of the people that came off that bus came over to me and said I'm not going to say another word, and you could have heard a pin drop all the way to the Capitol.
Bill Kruschel:Every one of the people that came off that bus came over to me and said Mr Crucial, we had no idea what you were doing. Yeah, you opened up their eyes. Yeah, and you can just think about this, though, in the days when they had no concept and we were trying to get money, yeah, yeah, as I told you, I rode a motorcycle till I was 94. And then I always had a bicycle, and now that I can't see to drive, somehow I had my eyes opened to an electric tricycle. So that's my beautiful life on a tricycle in White Bear Lake, and it's opened up a whole new life for me because I've got it set so I can't exceed 10 miles an hour.
Joe Boyle:It's probably a good idea.
Bill Kruschel:Well, I don't want to run over squirrels, rabbits, dogs or kids.
Joe Boyle:Right. You know, not in that order or re-rent a car.
Bill Kruschel:No, it's opened up a life that most people haven't any idea. You know, and the people I meet, and the great beaches to sit at over there and watch the wildlife, and you know, now there's a great big thing going. We got an owl's nest on the lake and everybody's been going over to see the owls. There are two little ones in it.
Bill Kruschel:And the mother fell out of the nest during the last snowstorm and one of the local ladies went down with her hip boots on and found the mother in the water. She couldn't fly and they got her to a sanctuary and got her going overnight. So she's back, yeah.
Joe Boyle:Are you involved in any kind of men's clubs or groups? It's a tough life.
Bill Kruschel:It's a tough life. It's a tough life. The big part of my life that God has been so good to me is music. I've been singing ever since I can remember. I don't know how many weddings and funerals I've sung at. I sang at a twins game a couple of years ago and I started out by playing an old accordion. Then I played a trombone in a band for years and then somewhere along the line in the late 60s, I picked up a ukulele and I carried that all over the world. Wow.
Bill Kruschel:When I moved in to where I live today I was there maybe six months and a guy moved in next door to me and I noticed that he had an electric piano and a guitar. So you can imagine the chat we had to start with. And it turns out his son, who now is 66 years old, is the president of the Midwest Association of Barbershop Quartet Singers in America. At one time it had as many as 30,000 men in it. Today it's got 14,000. His area goes from Saskatoon all the way down to Lake Geneva. So once a year we have a great big get-together at the Hilton Hotel over on 494 by the airport, and you can't imagine that much music. And there's not a musical instrument in the bunch, it's all voice.
Joe Boyle:All barbershoppers.
Bill Kruschel:So I hate to tell you this because I don't want to see grown men cry, but every Tuesday night his son picks us up. He lives three blocks away on the lake and we go over to Stillwater, to one of the churches, our Savior's Lutheran Church, and we rehearse for two hours three blocks away on the lake. And we go over to Stillwater, to one of the churches, our Savior's Lutheran Church, and we rehearse for two hours. Then I don't know if you ever heard of such a thing called an afterglow.
Joe Boyle:Oh, yeah, my mom used that term all along.
Bill Kruschel:There's a terrible place right on the river at Stillwater called Charlie's Bar.
Joe Boyle:So there's about 18 to 20 of us every. Yeah, that's the Irish bar over there.
Bill Kruschel:Yeah, I've been in there, so the music isn't as good, but it's a lot louder. So that's the big thing in my life singing with this gang of guys.
Joe Boyle:That's cool.
Bill Kruschel:So you have gigs then oh we just put on a great big hour and a half show at the Trinity Lutheran Church two weeks ago, had 400 people in the audience. And then, after the show was over, like at about five o'clock, we went to a little theater in Stillwater and then the group there were 39, 37 of us broke up and it was quartet singing over there, and it was quartet singing over there. So you know, and then, like Saturday, we're going to Wisconsin River Falls and we're going to sing for Earth Day Earth Day and then, like on Memorial Day, we're going down there again and sing at the cemetery 9 o'clock and then we're coming back and we sing at the Stillwater Courthouse For Memorial Day.
Joe Boyle:My wife and I went to that last year. We'll come back this year. Well, we were there, I think I heard you?
Bill Kruschel:We probably did the squeaky boys. You know, Can you hum us a few bars? Oh, they called her Frivolous Sal. She was a peculiar sort of a girl. Oh, it goes on and on. I can tell you, I know enough songs to choke four horses.
Mark Wolak:So you know, one of the themes that we're featuring this year for Joe and I on the radio is male friendships, male relationships.
Bill Kruschel:Oh boy.
Mark Wolak:Because we think that they are not as defined as well in our culture as women's relationships. Because we think that they are not as defined as well in our culture as women's relationships, and so give us a taste of what it's been like to do that over the decades, work was one place, church was another. Your work with the legislature around your son and advocacy for that was one. But what would you say to men out there who are listening, what sort of has kept you engaged with other men in your life? Friendships?
Bill Kruschel:Oh, I think it's several things. It starts out when I think about it in my hobbies that I had Like. In 1952, popular Mechanics came up with a plan to build a fold-down trailer eight feet long, six feet wide and 28 inches deep. And I built it and I hauled it all over the United States with my family. What a great experience.
Mark Wolak:So, you built a travel trailer, not like a. You built a A two-wheel trailer. Okay.
Bill Kruschel:Eight feet long. Okay, eight feet long, six feet wide and had two big doors, six and a half feet wide, that opened up and had strengths on it, and then the front half had an icebox in it that I lined with cork. I even drove it to the Seattle World's Fair in 1972, 52 yeah, hauling that trailer.
Mark Wolak:We were gone 22 days and 21 nights sounds like fun, so having you know that took you places or yeah kept you engaged with other other families.
Bill Kruschel:And I think the big thing it did, you know, gave my whole family an insight into a life that an awful lot of children never get an opportunity to do. Yeah, I was a scoutmaster in St Paul Park for seven years and was lucky enough to get the award of the year in 1967, outstanding Scouter for the Year for the St Paul Area Council.
Joe Boyle:And never even thought of it you know what were some of the things that you did, what were the activities.
Bill Kruschel:As a scout. Yeah, oh my God, it started out. I was a Boy Scout when I was 12 years old and I came within one merit badge of being an Eagle Scout. And I did pass life saving when I was 26 years old but a damn near drowned, you know. But there again community helped me. You know, st Paul park was maybe 1200 people at the most back then and the big thing was every night we had scout meetings in the gymnasium and I had a key for the door of the high school, you know. And I made enough money between collecting and selling newspapers and cardboard and selling Christmas trees that I could take the whole troop to camp for five bucks a piece for a week.
Joe Boyle:And where was camp Over at?
Bill Kruschel:Baldwin Wisconsin.
Mark Wolak:For a week. And where was camp Over? At Baldwin, wisconsin. So you know when I so you. You have kept a pretty strong commitment to community, but also to you're very active.
Bill Kruschel:But when you ask you know, what do you talk to guys about today? Yeah, the first thing I like to find out is what did you do for a living? You know, and I'm not bragging but not many guys had the opportunity and took advantage of it as I did. Because when I got well, let me go back Because mother was a widow I never went back to school my senior year because we didn't have the money. I had to go to work, and it opened up a whole new world for me, of course, but I got my GED and when I got back out of the service, I wanted to be a physician. So I go to the University of Minnesota and they wouldn't even talk to me With a GED and you don't have any relations that are a doctor. What are you talking about?
Mark Wolak:Yeah.
Bill Kruschel:And I always did have an interest in doing something with my hands. That all started at one of the farms I worked with, because the oldest boy was a real mechanic and they had the old summer kitchen made into a shop, you know. So I knew what a lathe and a drill press and a bandsaw was and all that. And I started an apprenticeship five years as a tool and die maker. And then it included on because it was part of the GI bill back then that I went to St Paul vocational school at the same time. And then I was lucky enough to have an old timer tell me when I started bill never stay in one shop more than a year because you, you're not going to live long enough to learn it all.
Bill Kruschel:Then in my at the end of my fourth year, I ran into some guys that went to 3m out of the shops and then I had an in that they were going to start a tool and dye shop of their own. So I was a fourth or fifth guy to get in the tool and dye shop at 3M. Wow, and then in 57, I was the first guy out of the shop to go into management. So I went to Hutchinson, minnesota for 11 years. Now you can just imagine what this is like. You've got a crew of about 40 guys working for you and you never had a minute of management training. It was an experience you know. You've got to live it to understand it.
Joe Boyle:My dad was a supervisor at 3M his whole life and I kind of lived through it through him. All right, you know what I'm talking about. Heard a lot of stories, yeah.
Bill Kruschel:And you know they're all 99% true, no, and you know, when I look back to the years of 1950 to 1990 was the heyday of, as I know it, manufacturing in America.
Joe Boyle:And 3M was at the top of that.
Bill Kruschel:Oh, and in 68 was the year that they really pushed hiring women and minorities. So when I got back and started, we were making floppy disks in a plant just west of Rosedale Mall. Boy, oh boy, was it a joy to hire women and see the smile on their face, and they were incredibly good workers, you know. And then minorities, you know, it was an experience of a lifetime. And after that they wanted me to go to Weatherford Oklahoma. You ever heard of Weatherford Oklahoma? Nope, it's not the end of the world, but you can see it from there, you know.
Bill Kruschel:So then, I was a salesman for a year covering all of Chicago, milwaukee and everything in between.
Bill Kruschel:And then I started working in engineering out of the old engineering building on East 7th Street and traveled half the world for 3M doing all kinds of things you know. But when I think about what opportunity there was and I got to be part of it yeah, you got to take advantage of it and you were open to it oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, you got to be open to it and you're obviously that kind of it. Yeah, you got to take advantage of it and you were open to it.
Joe Boyle:Oh, yeah, you got to be open to it, and you're obviously that kind of guy.
Bill Kruschel:And the guy that got me out of Hutchinson in 68 said, bill, there's one thing I want to warn you. I went well, what's that? I was kind of afraid to listen anymore. He said there's a lot of negative people in the world and big companies attract them. Stay as far away from them as you can and when you know one guy has given it to you, just stand there and smile. Don't say a word, just stand there and smile.
Joe Boyle:And boy did it work. For Stories in Life. Art from the heart, Deep thoughts from the shallow end. Each episode, we bring you a poem, a song or a reading, just for you. This is a message from Martha Dorothea Borman, Crucial Bill's mother. Dear Billy, help the weak. You who are strong, Love the old if you are young, Own a fault if you are wrong, If you are angry, hold your tongue. Your mother, Christmas 1936.
Bill Kruschel:Gonna take a sentimental journey. Gonna set my heart at ease. Gonna make a sentimental journey to renew old memories. Got my bag, I got my. I could afford, like a child in wild anticipation, long to hear that all aboard Seven, that's the time we leave. At seven I'll be waiting up for heaven, counting every mile of railroad track that takes me back. Never thought my heart could be so yearning. Why did I decide to roam? Gotta take this little journey.
Mark Wolak:So both you and Joe have served in the United States military At a young age. You must have served in the United States military At a young age. You must have served. What drew you to make that decision in your life? The war.
Bill Kruschel:Okay, I was sitting in the pin-setter shack of the bowling alley in Hastings, minnesota, on December 7th 1941, when President Roosevelt announced Pearl Harbor, and I was up there all alone. It was just a closet upstairs, you know, and I couldn't put it all together. Who the heck had ever heard of Pearl Harbor, you know? And then the way things went, I ended up a friend of mine was a traveling auditor for Montgomery Wards and headquartered in Chicago, and he called me in December of 1942 and says I'm leaving January for California and I'd like to have you drive out there with me. So I went down, we got on a Greyhound bus and off we go. No, no, we drove a 38 Buick Club Coupe. Think about this now.
Bill Kruschel:We got to Cheyenne, wyoming, and there was three feet of snow in the mountains. So we made a left turn and went all the way to Albuquerque, new Mexico, before we made a right turn, you know. Anyhow, I ended up out there and I had some friends that lived in Compton that put me up for a couple weeks till I could rent a room, and you can't imagine the job opportunities there were. There was a big company by the name of Kellogg Construction that I went to work for as a welder's helper. They were building a synthetic rubber plant and it never got finished, and after the war what was left was torn down in Torrance, california. Anyhow, you guys heard of the draft.
Mark Wolak:Yes.
Bill Kruschel:Everybody knew you were 18. And I knew that I was dod of the draft. Yes, everybody knew you were 18. And I knew that I was dodging the draft. And I had a 31 Model A coupe. And so in June I jumped in the old Model A coupe and took off, headed for Minneapolis. So I drove home and enlisted. On the way I saw the Marines and the Army in the desert. I didn't want any part of that, so I joined the Navy. Well, you know it's a crazy life, but I ended up going through a boot camp. Have either of you men ever heard of Farragut, idaho? No, no, I haven't.
Bill Kruschel:It was the second largest boot camp the Navy ever had on Lake Pend Oreille, northern Idaho, 50 miles east of Spokane, washington. The lake is 175 square miles of surface. Give you some idea. Today the whole thing is a state park Anyhow. How they figured this out is beyond me. But all of a sudden, after I got, I had my one and only leave was nine days, including travel time. So I took a train home, spent a couple of days and went back, and then I ended up in San Diego, california, at the Navy Medical School in Balboa Park. They made a medic out of me.
Joe Boyle:Did, they did you get a choice in that? No, okay.
Bill Kruschel:But that's followed your aspiration to be a doctor, didn't?
Mark Wolak:it. Well, you ask how it all happens. Yeah, Wow.
Bill Kruschel:And during wartime, in the middle of the war, things just went absolutely crazy. You know, in trying to get things going Well just think about this now Every one of the programs were reduced by two weeks because of the war. Twelve weeks was boot camp, I had eight or 10, you know. Eight weeks was medical training, we got six, a crash course in first aid, you know, yeah.
Bill Kruschel:And then the next thing, I know I'm on a boat, the USS Robin Domkaster it's all in the book and went overseas, ended up and ended up joining the old Guadalcanal bunch in the Solomon Islands which was home for a year. Luckily, I had a terrible blood condition and I didn't go to Peleliu with them. Peleliu was one of the worst calamities of the war as far as the Marine Corps was concerned. One out of three guys were either killed or injured and we never should have been there. Then I went to Okinawa and then, after Okinawa, I went to China. And then I came home. When I got discharged at the Naval Air Station in Minneapolis on January, the 20th 1946, I had to wait six weeks before I could legally buy a beer I wasn't 21 yet that's crazy but that's a military career, yeah, so during the war.
Bill Kruschel:It's a whole different thing yeah, so your navy guy?
Mark Wolak:I have to ask you this question because it's minnesota. This is what I'm sure you betcha right. So my my friend, neil Meyer, is a retired pilot, but one of the people he flew with was the first Navy rescue at sea in World War II. He was the first guy rescued. His name was Ray Maltebeck. Did you ever meet him or ever hear I?
Bill Kruschel:heard the name. The name is ringing a bell.
Mark Wolak:Yeah Well, my friend Neil asked me to ask you that because I think you'd be about the same age. He was rescued at sea. Yep, he was a Navy First. He flew a Corsair 60. Oh, boy From Japan and got.
Bill Kruschel:Shot down no no from Okinawa.
Mark Wolak:He flew a Corsair, but he was 60 miles from Japan when he was rescued and he was the very first rescue at sea, so can you imagine. But anyway, he lived and actually flew with Neil in Minnesota here for a number of years. But it sounds like your experience led you to a lot of career decisions, right? You know you had a mechanical aptitude and then took that to took it with you.
Bill Kruschel:Yeah, it all worked to my benefit. Yeah, and you know the help I got along the way and the people that I worked with and that's one of the greatest things that I look back on was the friendships that I had at 3M. You know the great guys that really helped me Because you can well imagine there was a lot of guys that looked down their nose at me because I was working with them and I didn't have a degree.
Mark Wolak:Yeah, yeah. So there's something about your authenticity there that came through.
Joe Boyle:Here's a side story. I was driving him to his VA appointment the other day. I drive the DAV van for Washington County and we were talking about 3M and I told him oh, my dad worked for 3M. He said whereabouts, I said New Ulm, in the Electro Products plant, and he goes oh my gosh, do you know a guy named Lou Haller? And I said, yeah, he was my dad's boss and his good friend. I've been to his house. So we were instant friends.
Bill Kruschel:I said we, we gotta get you on a podcast and if you played a ukulele or played a piano, you never had to buy a drink that's great but you know, to go to some of the great companies in the world.
Bill Kruschel:uh, when I got back, for instance, from hutch and we started making floppy disks, the original disk was a 16-inch aluminum disk, a 16th of an inch thick, with a 6-5-A's hole, and we put magnetic oxide on it. That was the beginning of what you today know in your world. Can you imagine what it took just to go down to Alco and get everything set up and get it going?
Mark Wolak:Yeah.
Bill Kruschel:You know. And then there was another big firm. The guy that made ships during the Kaiser had a great big aluminum plant right outside of Spokane, Washington. I got to go there and get that going. You know, it was an experience that not many people ever get the opportunity.
Joe Boyle:Wonderful life experiences and and being positive about it. You looked at that as a as a challenge and a way to meet new people and make new friends.
Bill Kruschel:It never stopped. You know, as I say, I could write a book about each one of them, but the best part, you know again my belief in God and secondly, in being positive about life.
Joe Boyle:Yeah, you consider yourself a pretty fortunate guy, oh.
Bill Kruschel:Number one. You know how many guys make 99? That's right. How many guys lived through World War II? There's only 19,000 left.
Joe Boyle:Well, you're one of them.
Bill Kruschel:Well, God's been good to me.
Joe Boyle:Yeah, can we have you back after you turn 100?.
Bill Kruschel:Sure, I'm going to make 105.
Joe Boyle:I'm going to hold you to that.
Bill Kruschel:I'm playing. I'm planning on at least 105. Somebody doesn't run over me in my track, no, it's, you know. And the best part of my life is my family, of course, you know. And the second woman I went with, barb, she was the mother of seven kids, two boys and five girls. And I'll always remember when she first told her children we met at a 3M luncheon down in a retired luncheon in Florida. And she says I met a guy with a motorcycle and he said are you crazy, ma? Once I got her out I couldn't get her off. Oh, did we travel the United States? What kind of motorcycle did you drive? Honda Goldwing, I wore out three of them, wow, and we had to trailer most of the way. Wow, you know.
Joe Boyle:And you had the last one up until the last few years 94.
Bill Kruschel:Wow, I was 94 years old when I finally decided. You know, it's like when I knew that my macular was bad. I'm going back three or four years ago when I went to the VA hospital and I came down Hiawatha and just before I got to the hospital, that last street you turn to go in there. I could see the red and green light very well, but I couldn't read the street sign. That's the day I knew I had to quit driving.
Joe Boyle:At least you sought for that oh.
Bill Kruschel:Yeah, because unfortunately there's people who don't want to believe that. Absolutely Boy. So you know, it's been an incredible life, believe me.
Joe Boyle:Do you have a favorite kind of music that you go to?
Bill Kruschel:all the songs that I learned as a kid through the great bands during the war. Big bands, yeah, and the and you know, when you think back to those days and great soloists, you know there's no such thing anymore. It's all noise. To me it is. Music is so loud you can't even hear the people that are singing. I don't know if you notice that or not, but I sure do. Yeah, so you like vocalists?
Bill Kruschel:Oh, certainly, certainly Sure sure Groups you know, like quartets, geez, people, especially men and I'm not prejudiced, I guess I am because I'm a man To hear a good quartet that really got it right on the money all the way through and we've got three of them in our organization, you know or just to be able to sit and sing with 30-some guys, and you know it's just an incredible Privilege. Privilege. Yeah, it's a pleasure. You know that we're all singing together, and then we got an incredible director.
Mark Wolak:Yeah.
Bill Kruschel:This guy that directed Richard is a millionaire. He owned two companies that made big air conditioners for major manufacturing places and he's an absolute genius in music. He writes all our music and directs about 90% of it. You know that kind of thing. He comes from a family, as I told you. His dad is my neighbor and when they were kids his mother was a piano player and taught piano in her house. She had three boys and a girl, and then the old man learned to play the electric piano and a guitar.
Bill Kruschel:Now can you imagine living in northwestern Illinois and the opportunities that are there if you let people know you'll sing for them, and the opportunities that are there if you let people know you'll sing for him. He started. They played a recording the other night when he was nine years old and they had a quartet and at nine years old he could hardly make it, but he was singing bass. Wow, today the guy's got the kind of a voice he can sing in four octaves, wow, wow. And he's really physical and you know, getting you cranked up it's fun. He put together the entire program again when we were singing over at the church the other day.
Mark Wolak:So I think that gives us good ideas on embedding music in this podcast. Oh, yeah, yeah.
Joe Boyle:We're not going to have any problem coming up with some good tunes.
Bill Kruschel:Well, there are two. You know you talk about the professionals and symphony music in particular. I do enjoy that, you know, when you really get to sit down and see the effort that's made by everybody the instrumentalists as well as the directors and then when you start to be my age and all of a sudden you can see a show with some of the old original composers, you know, for big music there's another world. I think you can put it to go to a great theater and hear great music, right. But it's also a blast to go someplace where people are playing the great music of the late 40s, yeah, and all through the 40s and 50s, you know, yeah.
Joe Boyle:Did you ever see any of those big bands Tommy Dorsey, any of those?
Bill Kruschel:A couple of them. Yeah, especially in the war, dorsey, any of those A couple of them? Yeah, especially in the war. Every Sunday one of the big bands would come down to San Diego from Los Angeles, hollywood in particular, and we had a Pacific Square ballroom and they'd put on a whole Sunday dancing and Rudy Valli and his whole gang came down I think it was Rudy Valli. They had 90 people including a bunch of guys that did singing, you know, and dancing, and I remember they didn't have enough girls so they brought busloads of girls up from Tijuana. I'm going to tell you, tijuana girls had more movement than a 21-jewel bull of when I learned to jitterbug. Just to give you some idea, it was a hell of a big ballroom and they had one corner roped off for jitterbugging. I mean roped off and boy it was fun. But when you were on the dance floor and if you got a little too close to your partner, some lady would tap you on the shoulder. You're dancing a little too close.
Joe Boyle:Well, we can't thank you enough for joining us today.
Bill Kruschel:I got a couple of quick ones here for you Okay, sure, sure.
Bill Kruschel:About five years before Bob Hope died, he was interviewed and they said did all of the shows you did during your career leave an impression on you? Oh yeah, what was that? He says Povuvo. What's Povuvu? Well, it's an island in the Solomon Islands that I did a show at and it's in my book in 1944. Now see if you can visualize this. There's 14,000 men in a marine division and we're all on the island of Povuvu in the middle of the Solomon Islands. Here come, we just had a place to land a single engine airplane, two people in it, on a coral road, five airplanes come in. Bob Hope, jerry Colonna, francis Langford a good looking girl and a guitar player Boy did they put on a show for us and just recently one of my friends over there was able to pull up a picture of us guys all sitting on one side at that particular show. Oh wow, oh neat. So when asked, why did that leave such an impression on you, bob? Because he says, two weeks later, half of those 18 and 21-year-old guys died on Peleliu.
Mark Wolak:Oh, man yeah how about that.
Bill Kruschel:You know, yeah.
Bill Kruschel:Or when we finished the Blitz on Okinawa, red Skelton put on a show for us. You remember, red Skelton? Oh yes, funniest guy you ever met in your life. Yeah, what an incredible experience, you know. And then I'm not saying this negatively, but when I was on that ship coming home from China, we were at the end of a typhoon, and a troop ship isn't that big. So every time it come out of the water the screws come out, you know. Anyhow, we ended up being in Guam for Christmas. They wouldn't let us off the ship because we were afraid we'd stay there. You know, it was so hot we couldn't eat our meal in the mess hall. We had to bring it up topside to eat it. Oh man, now to top this off, think about this now this troop ship probably 400 of us guys pulls into San Diego at the exact same pier I left from two years before that.
Bill Kruschel:No kidding, our welcoming committee was six milk trucks. When they first started putting little containers, we drank so much milk they had to hold the buses up three hours until we all got out of the bathroom.
Mark Wolak:Little lactose intolerance there. Oh well, nobody had fresh milk, yeah lactose intolerance there, oh well nobody had fresh milk yeah.
Bill Kruschel:Or when I went ashore on Okinawa. I went ashore from a troop ship to an LCT landing craft tank with a ramp in front, held four tanks and it was a hell of a trip. I think it took us three hours. And they said well, how do you like your eggs? What are you talking about? Well, come on down to the mess hall.
Bill Kruschel:Now, they just had a little area over here with a mess hall and over here was the motor. You know, and I think four of us guys were sitting there, I ate eight eggs that morning and probably a half a pound of bacon. Where the hell did you get all this stuff? Oh, we pulled up alongside of an aircraft carrier and we swapped some swords that we had Japanese swords. That's how crazy things are, yeah, In wartime, you know. Yeah, I'm all alone. ©. Bf-watch TV 2021.
Joe Boyle:The music for today's podcast was we're Shoving Right Off Again by the 139th Street Quartet by Harry Warren from 1937. We also had the late great Ella Fitzgerald singing Sentimental Journey along with Benny Goodman's orchestra from 1947. We also had Rudy Valli and his Connecticut Yankees singing Same Old Moon from 1932.
Mark Wolak:Joe, thank you for bringing Bill Kruschel to the studio. What a terrific human being, what a great person. That was a real treat.
Joe Boyle:Yeah, he's a walking history book.
Mark Wolak:Yeah, and I just love his attitude towards life and the things he believes are most important. He's so grateful. Yeah, yeah.
Joe Boyle:And his mother was such an influence on him.
Mark Wolak:Yeah, I was struck by that too, you know, realizing that she had such a major impact on him and his siblings and we're going to interview him with his siblings, if you enjoyed this one, you're going to really enjoy the next one, because we have Bill and his younger siblings, dee Dee, dorothy, who's 98, and Fritz, who's 96. Yes, and having met them both, I can tell you that they're delightful.
Mark Wolak:It is a delightful group of siblings Sharp as tacks yes, and Fritz being the little brother at 96. So that episode's coming next, folks. We're working on it right now, so stay tuned and enjoy this show and the next one coming. Thanks, mark. Thank you, joe.
Joe Boyle:We hope you enjoyed this episode. Please join us again next time on Stories in Life on the radio with Mark and Joe, and visit our website at storiesinlifebuzzsproutcom or email us at storiesinlifepodcast at gmailcom.