Patricia Ryall Krueger

A Memorial service will be held on Saturday, October 12, 2024 at 3 p.m. at the Cress Center, 6021 University Avenue, Madison. Family will greet friends from 2 p.m. until the time of service. A reception will follow. For those unable to attend, Pat's service will be live-streamed via the following link: https://event.forgetmenotceremonies.com/ceremony?c=e36b47e6-1dcf-4f43-af27-cf23de82c6a2

Patricia Ryall Krueger died peacefully on August 19, 2024 at Attic Angel Place where she had lived independently for 3 years. She was 102 years old.

She was born on December 22, 1921 in Minneapolis, MN to Ernest Van Rensselaer Ryall and Henrietta Achtenberg Ryall. She was the oldest of their 4 children, preceded in death by her sister Helen Briggs, and survived by her sister Ruth Gallagher (Portland, OR) and her brother John Ryall (Houston, TX.)

Pat, as she became known, grew up on a high bluff overlooking Lake Michigan's North Shore between Kenosha and Racine. She spent hours at the lake – swimming, kayaking, and searching for black fossils. She went the Berryville School and graduated from Mary D. Bradford High School in 1939.

Pat was a proud third generation UW Badger, following both parents and her maternal grandmother, who graduated in UW Madison’s 4th class of fully accredited women in 1881. Pat earned her Bachelor of Science from UW in 1943 in Home Economics. She was a founding member of the AAUW Chapter in Marshfield, WI.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Charles Herman Krueger (Monroe, WI), whom she met at UW Madison. Lt. Krueger, in the US Army Air Corps stationed in the China-Burma-India (CBI) theater, was killed in B-29 combat over Mukden, Manchuria on December 7, 1944. Pat was pregnant with their twin sons when he was deployed to the CBI, 10 days before their birth. 

She never remarried, but with loving parents and help from siblings and her many friends, she built an independent life for her family in Wisconsin. Living first in Kenosha her skills led to jobs as a Hospital Dietician, and then a Journalist with a by-line at the Kenosha News. Gaining confidence, she bought her first car in 1951, and then became Secretary/Publisher of the Holstein-Friesian Association in Milwaukee and, later, the advertising manager for HC Prange and Co, Green Bay. In Marshfield, Pat taught Home Economics at the senior high school, and later served as Home Service Representative for the Wisconsin Gas Company. When the Gas Company stopped merchandising in the 1980’s, she moved to Madison, where she happily spent her remaining years.

In her personal time, Pat enjoyed reading books & poetry, writing, traveling, and was active in organizations that supported independent living for Senior Citizens. In the publication from the Reminiscence Writing Group she focused her work on her experiences in WWII and life on the lake shore, Starting in 1968 she went through 4 passports, traveling widely across all 7 continents - almost achieving her goal of visiting all time zones. Loving to drive, she knew virtually all of Wisconsin and was an active volunteer in the Wisconsin Dept. of Motor Vehicles's "Driver Awareness Project." To promote public access for the hearing impaired, Pat established two FM hearing loop facilities at a Madison Public Library and at the UW's Biotechnology Lecture Hall for "Wednesday Night at the Lab."

Patricia Krueger is survived by her twin sons, Dr. Bruce Krueger and his wife Karen and John Krueger and his wife Judy, 5 grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren. 

A Memorial service will be held on Saturday, October 12, 2024 at 3 p.m. at the Cress Center, 6021 University Avenue, Madison. Family will greet friends from 2 p.m. until the time of service. A reception will follow. 

Anyone wishing to honor Pat’s memory is encouraged to make donations to the local Madison organizations that she held close to her heart and that supported her fierce desire to stay independent throughout her long life - SAIL (Sharing Active Independent Lives), Agrace Hospice, and the Attic Angel Place.

Cress Center

6021 University Ave. Madison

(608) 238-8406