Wanda Cruse

At the end of the storm a beautiful rainbow shall appear in the sky and so it was on January 20, 2022, when our heavenly father God picked up Wanda and took her to her heavenly home. Wanda Sue Cruse, daughter of Mamye and James Wrothwell, was born on September 3, 1941, in Chickasha, Oklahoma. They moved to Atchison, Kansas in 1946.  Wanda attended Atchison High School. She met her husband, Myron Cruse in 1957, and they were married on July 12, 1958, and would have been married 60 years before the passing of Myron in 2017. They resided in St. Joseph, Missouri where they started a family. Born into this union were 3 daughters, Rhonda, Nancy and Mila. The family moved to Kansas City, Missouri in 1977, where they all still live. Wanda worked at Allied Signal (Honeywell) for 10 years, and Access Industries for 13 years where she retired from. After retirement, she worked at Butcher-Greene Elementary for the Grandview School District in the cafeteria, and was a caretaker for Home Instead Care, services to Seniors living at home.

Wanda loved spending time with and taking care of her family.  She enjoyed playing bingo, going to the casinos, watching her favorite television shows, and reading. Wanda was a very personable person, outgoing and extremely friendly to everyone whether she knew you or not. She would engage with anyone as if they were a longtime friend and would spend a long time in the grocery store speaking with the butcher, baker, cashiers, sackers, and had many other friends and acquaintances wherever she went, her bank, water and cable company, etc.  If you weren’t her friend, by the time you were done talking with her, you would have quickly become one. Her smile was beautiful and warm and when you saw it, you couldn’t help but smile back. She actually transitioned from this earth with a beautiful smile on her face, and was surrounded by the love of family.

Wanda was preceded in death by her parents James and Mamye Wrothwell, and her husband Myron Cruse. Left to cherish her memory are her daughters, Rhonda Cruse, Nancy Cruse, and Mila Cruse-Black (Ronald Black) Grandchildren Katrina Cruse, Louis Cruse, Nicholas Cruse, Monica Cruse, and Great-Granddaughter Melanie Davis, as well as brother in-law Virgil Cruse, and a host of cousins, nieces, nephews, and an endless number of friends.