s/o Claude Rufus Cruise, Sr and Bessie Thompson Cruise
h/o Ruby Cruise
Claude Rufus Cruise, Jr., 96, of Bluefield, Va., passed away Friday, October 1, 2021, at Stonerise Beckley, in Beckley, W.Va. Born in Bluefield, W.Va., he was the son of the late Claude Rufus Cruise, Sr. and Bessie Thompson Cruise. He is survived by his wife of 72 years, Ruby Warner Cruise of Bluefield, sons Ronald Bradley Cruise of Gastonia, N.C., and Jerry Cruise of Bluefield, Va., and daughter Cathy Cruise of Fairfax, Va., as well as daughter-in-law Brenda Dillow Cruise and son-in-law Don Insley. He was preceded in death by a son, Anthony Edward Cruise, and daughter-in-law Latesha Lawson. Grandchildren are Stephanie Cruise, Ashley Cruise and Derek Cruise of Bluefield, and Carter and Miranda Insley of Fairfax.
Claude was born and raised in Bluefield. An only child, he was surrounded by a number of beloved cousins growing up, and in 1944, during his junior year at Bluefield High School, he, as he said, "volunteered to be drafted," when he could have taken a health deferment. He served proudly in the Army's 30th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop in the 30th Infantry Division's Armored Recon unit. He witnessed the aftermath of the Malmedy Massacre, worked to liberate a Nazi concentration camp, and fought in the Battle of Aachen and the Battle of the Bulge. A particularly memorable event from the war occurred two weeks before the conflict's end, when Claude and a fellow soldier met up with a Russian armored division on the road between Malmedy and Stavelot, Belgium. When a Russian tank gunner started to fire on 15 to 20 women, children, and elderly civilians, Claude instinctively found himself running in front of live machine gun fire, causing the Russian to stop firing before anyone was hit.
Once back home, he attended Bluefield College, married Ruby, the love of his life, and started a family. He took a job at General Telephone Electronics, where he worked until he retired 35 years later. He was a longtime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, and the Masons.
Claude was a true handy man, and liked to say he could "fix anything but a cat." In the 1970s, he built three reflecting telescopes, each of which took eight months to a year of lens grinding by hand. He also built one of the first hang gliders in the area, which he and his sons flew in the Outer Banks. An amateur scientist and inventor, he held a patent for a toy parachute that released from a kite string. His "Bear Fat Furnace" ran on bacon grease (and could be smelled from outside the house on winter days), and he often put his "Extendable Toenail Clippers" to good use in his later years.
Claude was a wonderful father and grandfather, a lover of animals, spicy foods, fresh tomatoes, and an occasional "snort" of liquor. He made terrific homemade sourdough bread, spaghetti sauce, and lemon meringue pie. His creativity and intelligence, his strength, kindness, humor, and enduring love will be forever missed.
A memorial service to celebrate Claude's life will be held Saturday, October 16, 2021, at Dudley Memorial Chapel at 3 p.m. with Pastor Melissa White officiating.
h/o Ruby Cruise
Claude Rufus Cruise, Jr., 96, of Bluefield, Va., passed away Friday, October 1, 2021, at Stonerise Beckley, in Beckley, W.Va. Born in Bluefield, W.Va., he was the son of the late Claude Rufus Cruise, Sr. and Bessie Thompson Cruise. He is survived by his wife of 72 years, Ruby Warner Cruise of Bluefield, sons Ronald Bradley Cruise of Gastonia, N.C., and Jerry Cruise of Bluefield, Va., and daughter Cathy Cruise of Fairfax, Va., as well as daughter-in-law Brenda Dillow Cruise and son-in-law Don Insley. He was preceded in death by a son, Anthony Edward Cruise, and daughter-in-law Latesha Lawson. Grandchildren are Stephanie Cruise, Ashley Cruise and Derek Cruise of Bluefield, and Carter and Miranda Insley of Fairfax.
Claude was born and raised in Bluefield. An only child, he was surrounded by a number of beloved cousins growing up, and in 1944, during his junior year at Bluefield High School, he, as he said, "volunteered to be drafted," when he could have taken a health deferment. He served proudly in the Army's 30th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop in the 30th Infantry Division's Armored Recon unit. He witnessed the aftermath of the Malmedy Massacre, worked to liberate a Nazi concentration camp, and fought in the Battle of Aachen and the Battle of the Bulge. A particularly memorable event from the war occurred two weeks before the conflict's end, when Claude and a fellow soldier met up with a Russian armored division on the road between Malmedy and Stavelot, Belgium. When a Russian tank gunner started to fire on 15 to 20 women, children, and elderly civilians, Claude instinctively found himself running in front of live machine gun fire, causing the Russian to stop firing before anyone was hit.
Once back home, he attended Bluefield College, married Ruby, the love of his life, and started a family. He took a job at General Telephone Electronics, where he worked until he retired 35 years later. He was a longtime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, and the Masons.
Claude was a true handy man, and liked to say he could "fix anything but a cat." In the 1970s, he built three reflecting telescopes, each of which took eight months to a year of lens grinding by hand. He also built one of the first hang gliders in the area, which he and his sons flew in the Outer Banks. An amateur scientist and inventor, he held a patent for a toy parachute that released from a kite string. His "Bear Fat Furnace" ran on bacon grease (and could be smelled from outside the house on winter days), and he often put his "Extendable Toenail Clippers" to good use in his later years.
Claude was a wonderful father and grandfather, a lover of animals, spicy foods, fresh tomatoes, and an occasional "snort" of liquor. He made terrific homemade sourdough bread, spaghetti sauce, and lemon meringue pie. His creativity and intelligence, his strength, kindness, humor, and enduring love will be forever missed.
A memorial service to celebrate Claude's life will be held Saturday, October 16, 2021, at Dudley Memorial Chapel at 3 p.m. with Pastor Melissa White officiating.
s/o Claude Rufus Cruise, Sr and Bessie Thompson Cruise
h/o Ruby Cruise
Claude Rufus Cruise, Jr., 96, of Bluefield, Va., passed away Friday, October 1, 2021, at Stonerise Beckley, in Beckley, W.Va. Born in Bluefield, W.Va., he was the son of the late Claude Rufus Cruise, Sr. and Bessie Thompson Cruise. He is survived by his wife of 72 years, Ruby Warner Cruise of Bluefield, sons Ronald Bradley Cruise of Gastonia, N.C., and Jerry Cruise of Bluefield, Va., and daughter Cathy Cruise of Fairfax, Va., as well as daughter-in-law Brenda Dillow Cruise and son-in-law Don Insley. He was preceded in death by a son, Anthony Edward Cruise, and daughter-in-law Latesha Lawson. Grandchildren are Stephanie Cruise, Ashley Cruise and Derek Cruise of Bluefield, and Carter and Miranda Insley of Fairfax.
Claude was born and raised in Bluefield. An only child, he was surrounded by a number of beloved cousins growing up, and in 1944, during his junior year at Bluefield High School, he, as he said, "volunteered to be drafted," when he could have taken a health deferment. He served proudly in the Army's 30th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop in the 30th Infantry Division's Armored Recon unit. He witnessed the aftermath of the Malmedy Massacre, worked to liberate a Nazi concentration camp, and fought in the Battle of Aachen and the Battle of the Bulge. A particularly memorable event from the war occurred two weeks before the conflict's end, when Claude and a fellow soldier met up with a Russian armored division on the road between Malmedy and Stavelot, Belgium. When a Russian tank gunner started to fire on 15 to 20 women, children, and elderly civilians, Claude instinctively found himself running in front of live machine gun fire, causing the Russian to stop firing before anyone was hit.
Once back home, he attended Bluefield College, married Ruby, the love of his life, and started a family. He took a job at General Telephone Electronics, where he worked until he retired 35 years later. He was a longtime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, and the Masons.
Claude was a true handy man, and liked to say he could "fix anything but a cat." In the 1970s, he built three reflecting telescopes, each of which took eight months to a year of lens grinding by hand. He also built one of the first hang gliders in the area, which he and his sons flew in the Outer Banks. An amateur scientist and inventor, he held a patent for a toy parachute that released from a kite string. His "Bear Fat Furnace" ran on bacon grease (and could be smelled from outside the house on winter days), and he often put his "Extendable Toenail Clippers" to good use in his later years.
Claude was a wonderful father and grandfather, a lover of animals, spicy foods, fresh tomatoes, and an occasional "snort" of liquor. He made terrific homemade sourdough bread, spaghetti sauce, and lemon meringue pie. His creativity and intelligence, his strength, kindness, humor, and enduring love will be forever missed.
A memorial service to celebrate Claude's life will be held Saturday, October 16, 2021, at Dudley Memorial Chapel at 3 p.m. with Pastor Melissa White officiating.
h/o Ruby Cruise
Claude Rufus Cruise, Jr., 96, of Bluefield, Va., passed away Friday, October 1, 2021, at Stonerise Beckley, in Beckley, W.Va. Born in Bluefield, W.Va., he was the son of the late Claude Rufus Cruise, Sr. and Bessie Thompson Cruise. He is survived by his wife of 72 years, Ruby Warner Cruise of Bluefield, sons Ronald Bradley Cruise of Gastonia, N.C., and Jerry Cruise of Bluefield, Va., and daughter Cathy Cruise of Fairfax, Va., as well as daughter-in-law Brenda Dillow Cruise and son-in-law Don Insley. He was preceded in death by a son, Anthony Edward Cruise, and daughter-in-law Latesha Lawson. Grandchildren are Stephanie Cruise, Ashley Cruise and Derek Cruise of Bluefield, and Carter and Miranda Insley of Fairfax.
Claude was born and raised in Bluefield. An only child, he was surrounded by a number of beloved cousins growing up, and in 1944, during his junior year at Bluefield High School, he, as he said, "volunteered to be drafted," when he could have taken a health deferment. He served proudly in the Army's 30th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop in the 30th Infantry Division's Armored Recon unit. He witnessed the aftermath of the Malmedy Massacre, worked to liberate a Nazi concentration camp, and fought in the Battle of Aachen and the Battle of the Bulge. A particularly memorable event from the war occurred two weeks before the conflict's end, when Claude and a fellow soldier met up with a Russian armored division on the road between Malmedy and Stavelot, Belgium. When a Russian tank gunner started to fire on 15 to 20 women, children, and elderly civilians, Claude instinctively found himself running in front of live machine gun fire, causing the Russian to stop firing before anyone was hit.
Once back home, he attended Bluefield College, married Ruby, the love of his life, and started a family. He took a job at General Telephone Electronics, where he worked until he retired 35 years later. He was a longtime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, and the Masons.
Claude was a true handy man, and liked to say he could "fix anything but a cat." In the 1970s, he built three reflecting telescopes, each of which took eight months to a year of lens grinding by hand. He also built one of the first hang gliders in the area, which he and his sons flew in the Outer Banks. An amateur scientist and inventor, he held a patent for a toy parachute that released from a kite string. His "Bear Fat Furnace" ran on bacon grease (and could be smelled from outside the house on winter days), and he often put his "Extendable Toenail Clippers" to good use in his later years.
Claude was a wonderful father and grandfather, a lover of animals, spicy foods, fresh tomatoes, and an occasional "snort" of liquor. He made terrific homemade sourdough bread, spaghetti sauce, and lemon meringue pie. His creativity and intelligence, his strength, kindness, humor, and enduring love will be forever missed.
A memorial service to celebrate Claude's life will be held Saturday, October 16, 2021, at Dudley Memorial Chapel at 3 p.m. with Pastor Melissa White officiating.
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