Angela Katherine Kruse Ludington dearly loved wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother departed this life on Wednesday, March 19 at home at the end of a full and active life. She was one hundred and one years of age.
Gay (short for Angela) was born to Ralph and Felice (Enneking) Kruse in Dayton, Kentucky on July 28, 1923. Her family moved to Pelham Manor when she was four and she spent the next 97 years building a life and a family of her own there.
She attended Siwanoy School, where she met the boy she would eventually marry in kindergarten. She graduated from the Ursuline School and Manhattanville College, and then attended art school in New York where she refined her design skills. During WWII, she worked as a volunteer at Grasslands, Mt. Vernon and New Rochelle hospitals as her contribution to the war effort. She made her debut at the Westchester Cotillion in 1944.
When WWII ended, she married Francis (Lud) Ludington at St. Catharine’s Church on August 31, 1946 after one of the longest engagements on record.
While Gay was very active in her community, she avoided the limelight. A member of the NY Junior League, she transferred to the Pelham League when it was established. She served on its board for many years in different capacities. Gay was also a frequent volunteer for Meals on Wheels. A busy mother of 5, Gay was also a founding member of the Pelham Larks, the Pelham Skating Club, and Barclays. She belonged to the Pelham Country Club, Shenorock Shore Club and Indian Harbor Yacht Club. Most importantly, she was a Eucharistic Minister at our Lady of Perpetual Help Church where she was also a trustee.
She traveled extensively with her husband Lud. A Dame of Malta, she and Lud ran a pilgrimage to Lourdes for 224 people (including 24 terminally ill patients). A fine athlete, she played excellent tennis until she was 82.
Gay was a beautiful person in every way; kind and friendly, always helpful and always at hand when any one needed comfort or assistance. She brightened and enriched every life she touched.
Gay was predeceased by her adoring husband of 70 years, as well as by her son-in-law Bill Seabrook. She leaves behind a loving legacy through her five children – daughter Gay Lucile (Dunkirk, MD); son Hank (FHLIII) Ludington and his wife Mary Beth (Princeton Junction, NJ); daughter Leslie Elizabeth Orendorf and her husband Mele (Fairfield, CT); daughter Mary Felice and her partner Peter Lee (Corte Madera, CA); and son Ralph Kruse and his wife Cathy (Ridgewood, NJ).
She was predeceased by her three brothers: Ralph H Kruse Jr., Carl T. Kruse and Louis F. Kruse.
She is also survived by eleven beloved and loving grandchildren and fourteen great-grandchildren.
A wake will be held on Sunday, March 23rd from 2 – 5 pm at the Pelham Funeral Home.
A Mass of Thanksgiving to celebrate the life of Gay Kruse Ludington will be held at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Pelham Manor at 10 am on Monday, March 24th.
Interment will be at Gate of Heaven Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum.
Editor’s note: This obituary was provided by the Pelham Funeral Home.
