Gordon Cruff

Gordon Cruff, age 96, of Aurora died Tuesday night, November 20, 2001, at the Hamilton Manor.

Funeral Services will be held at 10:30 A.M., Saturday at the Aurora Cemetery. Rev. Seth L. Leypoldt will officiate. Interment will be in the Aurora Cemetery. No Visitation. Viewing will be at the mortuary from 9:00-10:15 A.M. prior to the service. Condolences may be e-mailed to the family through the mortuary website at higbymortuary.com.

OBITUARY: GORDON CRUFF

Gordon Russell Cruff, the son of Lewis and Della (Lee) Cruff, was born in Aurora, Nebraska on June 2, 1905 and died in Aurora, Nebraska on November 20, 2001, at the age of 96 years.

He attended District 6 country school. Gordon drove a truck on routes through Nebraska, Colorado and South Dakota, for his brother Ray Cruff.

Gordon was united in marriage to Alice McGrath on July 26, 1933, at Norton, Kansas. They lived in Norton for a short time before moving back to Hamilton County, where they purchased the family farm in 1942. They moved into Aurora when Gordon retired from farming in 1968. He then worked some at Ingram's Service Station and the railroad as well as a little farming on the side. Gordon also worked for the Aurora Parks Department following his retirement from farming. Alice passed away on October 18, 1993.

Gordon served as a member of the District 6 School Board and always made sure teachers came into a warm schoolhouse during the winter months. He always enjoyed his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. One of his main goals was to see his children receive a college education. Gordon enjoyed being an outdoorsman and loved to hunt. His other passion was saving aluminum can tabs for use by dialysis and leukemia patients as well as the McDonald House. In addition to his collecting, he sent over 11,000 tabs back to children in Grand Island when they were trying to collect a million of them.

He was preceded in death by his parents, wife, two brothers and three sisters.

Gordon is survived by his four children, Tom of Boulder, Colorado, Connie Robertson and her husband Charles of Doniphan, Charles and his wife Nancy of Mesa, Arizona and Cheryl Meier and her husband Terry of Wheatland, Wyoming; 7 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren.