Bernard W. Cruse, Jr. ’48

Bernard W. Cruse, Jr. ’48, of Concord, N.C., passed away May 2 at CMC NorthEast. He was born on July 14, 1927, in Enochville, Rowan County, N.C. (St. Enoch Lutheran Church parsonage, where his grandfather was the minister), son of the late Bernard William Cruse, Sr. and Juanita Boland Cruse. He was also preceded in death by his wife, Marjorie Elizabeth Cruse, who passed away Jan. 20, 2003. He is survived by his children, Bernard William Cruse III, P.O. Box 6918, Concord, NC 28027-1533, and Kathy Parnell (Larry); grandchildren, Bernard William “Brad” Cruse IV (Tracy Mitchell), Jeffrey Michael Harrison, and Alicia Anne Parnell; great-grandchildren, Bailey William Cruse, Alexis Danielle Cruse, and Matthew Logan Cruse; stepchildren, David Waugh, Randy Waugh (Pamela), and Cheryl Oakes; step-grandchildren, Andra Waugh, Christian Waugh, Jesse Waugh, Christopher Treem, Timothy Treem, and Lauren Green; step-great-grandchildren, Ryan Treem, Wesley Treem, and Madison Treem; and brother, Kenneth Boland Cruse, Sr. Cruse attended Davidson, Lenoir-Rhyne College in Hickory, Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, and UNCC, as well as other colleges. He attended several trade schools including, McCarrie School of Mechanical Dentistry in Philadelphia, Pa., where he received his diploma, Detroit Institute of Technology in Detroit, Mich., and CPCC. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps during WWII in the South Pacific and in North China Occupation and later served in Reserves in Georgia and North Carolina. He was employed in print shops and as a radio announcer and disk jockey while in high school and at Lenoir-Rhyne. He operated a newsstand for a short period of time and worked in sales while attending Georgia Tech. Upon graduation from McCarrie School, he operated and worked in dental laboratories for about two years in Concord, Charlotte, Lenoir, Tucson, Ariz., and Detroit and Saginaw, Mich. While in Michigan, he worked and acquired certificates as a tool and die maker at Chrysler, GM, Ford, and other general machine shops. During occasional layoffs, he drove mainly new trucks and buses from the factories to dealerships, as well as driving military vehicles to military posts. While in Michigan, he worked in sales as an audiologist fitting people for hearing aids. He then joined his parents in Wilmington at their motel, where he built and operated a restaurant until selling the business and moving with his parents to Alexandria, Va., to both operate a motel and work in tool shops in Alexandria and Bethesda, Md. He then returned to Concord and worked in machine and sheet metal shops in Charlotte until he opened Craft Manufacturing Company in Concord for sheet metal work. After the closing of that business, he went to work as a staff engineer for about five years for a hosiery concern, and then went on to work at Celanese Corp. for about nine years as an electromechanical designer. During that time, he collaborated with two partners to start CEM Corp. as the founding president, developing and marketing analytical electronic instrumentation. He retired in 1983 from CEM Corp. and had been pursuing his lifelong hobby of genealogical research and historical publications. He was a member of the Boy Scouts of America, where he achieved the status of Eagle Scout. He was also a member of the Detroit Council of Skilled Trades, American Society of Tool and Manufacturing Engineers, and Fifth District Citizen Band Radio Assoc., where he served as president. At the time of his passing, he was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, Sons of Confederate Veterans, lifetime member of Silver Wings Fraternity, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Assoc., Cabarrus Genealogy Society, Rowan Genealogical Society, N.C. Genealogical Society, N.C. Society of Historians, and Historical Works Committee of the N.C. Synod. He was also a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America for about 15 years, served on several committees and congregational council for Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church in Concord, and taught Sunday school for a period of time at Calvary Lutheran Church. His honors and awards include, honorary life member of Lutheran Men in Mission, Who’s Who in the South and Southwest, Dictionary of International Biography, Personalities of the South, Personalities of America, certificate of recognition from Eastern Cabarrus Historical Society, four publications awarded blue ribbons by the N.C. Society of Historians, and one publication awarded the certificate of merit from the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. He was responsible for many books and publications.