Louis Kruh, war hero, community activist, dies at 87

Louis Kruh of Merrick, a decorated World War II hero, a longtime advertising executive turned attorney, a 30-year veteran of the Merrick School District Board of Education and a former board president, died after a long illness on May 1. He was 87.

Kruh was known throughout the Merrick-Bellmore community for his inquisitive mind and kind heart, a man for all seasons who could at once be tough but tender.

Kruh grew up in New York City and graduated from the prestigious Stuyvesant High School. He enlisted in the Army during World War II and was assigned to the 94th Infantry Division. In September 1944, his division was battling German forces in Lorient, in northern France, in an effort to protect an allied submarine base, according to his son David. Kruh's unit was running low on ammunition, and his sergeant asked for a volunteer to race to headquarters to bring back more rifle grenades. Kruh raised his hand and rushed across an open field.

Halfway across, he heard a mortar whistling toward him and dived into a foxhole, which saved his life. But the blast knocked him unconscious, blew out his eardrums and filled his body with shrapnel. He lay in the muddy foxhole for more than a day and contracted an infection that nearly killed him. After the battle he was hospitalized and sent stateside, where he spent the next six months recuperating from his injuries. He then returned to France, this time to a liberated Paris, where he worked for a year for Stars and Stripes, the independent daily newspaper of the U.S. military.

Kruh was awarded the Bronze Star for bravery and the Purple Heart.

Six years after the war, he married his wife of six decades, Gladys. The couple moved to Merrick in June 1960.

Kruh began his professional life as a salesman, selling advertising space in niche trade publications before taking a position at the world's largest advertising firm, BBDO, and then later at Young & Rubicam. In 1970, New York Telephone hired him away from Y&R to serve as the utility company's director of advertising. At New York Telephone he helped create Dial-a-Joke, inviting people to call in and hear a joke told by a famous comedian like Henny Youngman. Dial-a-Joke became enormously popular, bringing in millions of dollars for the company. The New Yorker profiled Dial-a-Joke in 1974, citing Kruh.

He earned a degree from the City College of New York in 1963 and a master's from Pace University in 1970. In his 50s, Kruh graduated from Touro Law School, having completed his juris doctorate in three years.

After he retired from New York Telephone in 1991, Kruh became a law guardian in Nassau County Family Court, representing the interests of children in divorce custody battles. His longtime friend from Merrick, Judge Jerome Medowar, who brought Kruh to Family Court, said he was among the finest law guardians in the system. "He was one of the absolutely most wonderful law guardians," Medowar said. "He did home visits, visits with parents, psychologists, social workers. He didn't leave a stone unturned when he rendered a report."

Kruh went on to become an administrative law judge for the New York State Workers' Compensation Board.

Throughout his career, he volunteered his time in the Merrick-Bellmore community. He was well-respected by colleagues on the Merrick and Central District boards of education, Medowar said. Kruh fought to increase educational services for children. Even in his final years on the board, he worked diligently to bring back Merrick's elementary foreign language program, which had been canceled in the 1970s owing to budget cuts. He was an outspoken proponent of Spanish in the elementary schools and played a key role in winning over the community's -- and the board's -- hearts and minds before the program was finally approved in the mid-2000s. Now all children in the Merrick School District receive four years of Spanish instruction, from grades three to six.

"He had a tremendous impact on our educational system," Medowar said, "and we have a reputation for being a very good educational system."

Along with Medowar and his good friend Lawrence Garfinkel, Kruh was also a founder of the Merrick Historical Society. He was a longtime board member of the Merrick Kiwanis Club, and an active member of Temple Beth Am and Merrick American Legion Post 1282. For many years he served as the Kiwanis Club's Memorial Day parade chairman.

Kruh was awarded Man of the Year honors by both the Merrick Chamber of Commerce and the Merrick Herald.

Many did not know that he was also an avid cryptologist who studied and deciphered secret codes used during war, particularly World War II. He amassed one of the largest privately held collections of cryptology texts and instruments in the U.S. He also wrote books and a number of articles and was considered a leading authority on the subject.

"He had a very active mind," Medowar said. "He never stopped. He was smart and sincere and honest. He told you what was on his mind. He didn't cater to anybody."

Garfinkel said, "Louis Kruh's passing last weekend makes my mind a movie screen, and I relive so many shared moments with a man who was truly a giant in our community."

"He just had his hand in every pot," said Kruh's daughter, Nance. "He had incredible perseverance. He just taught us to never give up and to live big. There was nothing he didn't conquer and conquer well."

His son, David, said, "He really lived by the same set of standards that he demanded of everyone else. He really walked the walk. It was all about personal growth. When you find something you love, do it and do it right."

In addition to his wife, son and daughter, Kruh is survived by a brother, Joel; a daughter-in-law, Maureen; a son-in-law, Bob; two grandchildren, Jennifer and Jessa; and a nephew, Douglas.

Funeral arrangements were made by Gutterman's of Rockville Centre. Burial was at Mt. Ararat Cemetery in Farmingdale.