Viola A. Kruchten, 86, St. Cloud

July 26, 1930 - May 20, 2017

Memorial Services will be held at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 25, 2017 at the Daniel Funeral Home in St. Cloud for Viola A. Kruchten, age 86, of St. Cloud. Viola passed away on Saturday, May 20, 2017 at Geneva Suites in Eagan. Reverend Thomas Knoblach will officiate. Entombment will take place in the Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery near Little Falls. Relatives and friends may call after 11:30 a.m. on Thursday at the funeral home.

Viola, the youngest of 16 children, was born on July 26, 1930 in Mandan, ND to Amos and Bertha Renner. She grew up on the family farm, sharing in the chores with her siblings and going to school. She graduated from Mandan High School in 1948. She attended St. Alexis Hospital Nursing School in Bismarck, ND where she graduated with a nursing degree. After graduation, she moved to St. Cloud, MN where she worked at the St. Cloud VA Hospital. It was at a VA dance that she met her future husband, Melvin Kruchten, who had just returned home from the Korean War. They were married September 1, 1956 at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Mandan, ND. Together they raised five children in Sun Prairie, WI where she continued to work as a nurse in Madison and Columbus, WI.

Viola and Melvin took Arthur Murray dance lessons and enjoyed dancing together on the weekends. They were active in bowling leagues and would go golfing whenever they could. Viola and Melvin were married for 60 years and enjoyed traveling together. Viola was a loving wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.

Viola leaves behind her children Leann (Dana) Smith of Austin, TX; Michael of St. Cloud; David (Robyn) of Waconia; Stephen (Pamela) of Eagan; Joan (Jim) Griffin of Simpsonville, SC; 10 grandchildren and one great-grandchild; brothers Anthony, Lawrence and Edward Renner; and sisters Pauline Adams, Clementine Willihnganz and Mary Moser.

Viola is preceded in death by her parents, husband (September 2016), nine brothers and sisters, and an infant son.

Memorials are preferred in lieu of flowers.