Lu Marguerite Lucille (Forney) Krueger

Lu (Marguerite Lucille Forney) Krueger of Phoenix, AZ died on October 23rd, 2024 at her home in Phoenix, Arizona. A memorial service was held at The Palazzo in Phoenix, AZ where she had resided since 2019. An additional service will be held at First Lutheran Church in Kearney, NE on Friday, November 22, 2024 at 10 AM with a private interment at Fort McPherson National Cemetery where she will be reunited with Hilmar. In lieu of flowers, please send memorials to Kearney Women’s Club. Lu was born in Julesburg, Colorado on September 8, 1935 to Wayne and Goldie (Vorce) Forney. Lu grew up on a farm near Brule, NE and graduated from Ogallala High School. She attended Nebraska Wesleyan for one year and received her bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She taught Home Economics in Hebron where she met Hilmar Krueger, a fellow teacher. They were married on June 14th, 1959. During the first few years of marriage, Lu wrote a food-focused column “Krueger’s Kitchen” for the Hebron Journal Register. She dedicated herself to raising her three children, and her passion for learning and education continued. After her children were grown, Lu returned to school, earning a Master’s of Science degree at the University of Nebraska-Kearney. Every job she held (and there were many) focused on learning something new, making food, or teaching someone about food and nutrition. This included owning The Box K Cafe in Gilead, her work as an evangelist for the American Soybean Association, working as a County Extension Educator for Cheyenne, Kimball, and Banner counties. In the Kearney area, she ran the Archway Chuck Wagon Café, and taught food prep classes at Bob’s Super Store and for Kearney Parks & Recreation, and spent 10 years working in customer service at Cabela’s. Because of her deep commitment to education, community, and service, she served in a multitude of philanthropic organizations. This included P.E.O. Chapters AE and HB, Soil Sisters & Misters, Garden Club, Women of the ELCA, Serendipity, Kearney Women’s Club, B.P.O. DOES, and VFW Auxiliary. In many of these organizations, she served in leadership and service roles, including as president. Lu’s legacy will live on in the lives she touched with her kindness, sense of humor, cooking, and teaching. Her family includes: Her children, daughters, Sheila Krueger (Paul Hennings), Phoenix, AZ and Cheryl Krueger (Steve Weinstock), Schaumburg, IL, and son Jason (Michelle) Krueger, Lincoln, NE; Her grandchildren, Catherine Hennings, Queen Creek, AZ, Nicholas (Stephenie) Hennings, Bloomington, IN, Jessica (Andrew) Engel, Lincoln, NE, Zandra Drohman, Newark, OH, and Max Weinstock, Lincoln, NE; Her great-grandchildren, Dimitri Layko, Natalia O’Neal, Chloe Meyer, Owen Engel, Adora Brylan, Alouna Drohman and Azia Kiser; Sister-in-law, Nelda Forney and beloved nephews and nieces. Her dog Trixie has returned to Kearney. She was preceded in death by her husband Hilmar, who died on April 26, 2001, her parents, an infant sister, her sister Mary Peterson and Mary’s husband Don Peterson, and her brother Robert Forney.

Tributes

Lu Marguerite Lucille (Forney) Krueger

September 8, 1935 - October 23, 2024