Florence Kruger (1986-1979)

Florence Kruger served as the head of the Home Economics program for much of her thirty-year career at Concordia College. In those thirty years, she made a name for herself, as well as making a lasting impact on the lives of the students that graduated from the program.

Florence Kruger was born on June 4, 1896, in Chicago, Illinois. Early in her life, her family moved to Marion, Iowa. She graduated from Marion High in 1914. Kruger went on to attend Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and graduated in 1918 with majors in German and mathematics, as well as home economics. [1]

After graduating from Coe College, Kruger found employment in Montana teaching in a high school before eventually moving on to teach at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa. She did graduate work at the University of Chicago in the summer of 1923, at the University of Iowa in the summers of 1928-1932, and at Columbia University in the summer of 1934, and received her master's degree from the University of Iowa in 1936. [2]

In addition to her educational achievements, she also found time to travel. Kruger travelled to Europe twice, touring several countries, including Germany, France, Switzerland, and Italy, once in 1922, and again in 1952. Also, she spent nine months in the Hawaiian Islands working as an interior decorator for Lewer & Cook in 1925.

From 1929 until her retirement in 1963, Florence Kruger worked in the Home Economics Department of Concordia College, and chaired the department from 1929 to 1958. She is credited with keeping the department open through various tough times, including the Great Depression when funding was scarce. She organized silent auctions, athlete dinners, and food sales to raise money, and also accepted potato and onion donations from area farmers. Her work with Concordia’s Women’s League helped retain students during a time when many could not afford to attend college. Kruger’s fundraising went to students struggling to pay tuition and other fees. The Women’s League, and Kruger, began offering scholarships to those who needed funds to stay enrolled. By 1940, Concordia’s faculty of forty-five included twenty women, but she and Mae Anderson in mathematics were the only female department heads at that time. [3]

During her career at Concordia, more than two hundred young women graduated from the Home Economics Program. Miss Kruger had a close relationship with her “daughters.” Alice Polikowsky and Jean Ward, former students and later Concordia faculty, considered Miss Kruger their “mother” while they were at school.  She was described in a newspaper article as “expecting and receiving nothing but the best from her students.” In the fall of 1941, Concordia’s home management house was organized. It was Miss Kruger’s plan to give home economics students practice in living in a home. For six weeks at a time, six students lived in the house and assumed various rotating duties such as head cook, hostess, and laundress. Kruger also lived in the house and served as its residence head. [4]

After retiring in 1963, Kruger found more time to focus on her hobbies, including knitting and weaving, as well as to revisit Europe. She would often touch base with her former students after they graduated. Florence Kruger passed away on April 22, 1979, at the age of 82. [5]

Author: Ethan Holm