Mary E. “Babe” Kruep

Sunday, March 23, 2025  2:00-5:00 p.m.

Moss Funeral Home, Breese

Monday, March 24, 2025  10:00-11:00 a.m.

St. Dominic Catholic Church, Breese

Monday, March 24, 2025

11:00 a.m.

St. Dominic Catholic Church, Breese

Mary E. “Babe” Kruep has passed away at 90 in Breese on March 19, 2025.

Babe was the third and youngest child of Margaret and Joseph Altepeter, joining older sisters Margaret Mary and Johanna. She was born on September 1, 1934. She was known almost exclusively as Babe since her birth, so much so that most people never knew her real name. The official: Mary Elizabeth Altepeter Kruep. She is the last in the local line of the Altepeters who, in the 1830s, along with three other families, founded what later became Breese. The Cholera Cross on Germantown Road was erected by her great-grandfather Altepeter.

Babe married her St. Dominic High School classmate, Donald “Deac” Kruep of Beckemeyer, in May of 1954, and they had six children: Steve (Karen) of Blue Ridge, Georgia, Donna Kay (Deceased), Randall (Donna J.) Park City, Utah; Sherry of Breese, Kevin of Breese, and Christine of Ocean Springs, MS (formerly of Okawville). Babe had seven grandchildren: Katie Bulthuis, Colleen Wells, Andrew Kruep (deceased), Julia Mary Elizabeth Kruep, Christian Kruep, Ethan Bening, and Mallory Bening. The great-grandchild count is four and growing: Kayden, Savannah, Weston, and Romy.

As a wife and mother she lived for 60 years on Cherry Street in Breese between the Breese Park and Mater Dei’s football field---the “best family location in Breese” and she picked it out. Most recently she has called Breese Cedarhurst home.

Babe was preceded in death by her parents, her sisters, her husband Deac, her daughter Donna Kay, and her grandson Andrew Kruep of Los Altos Hills, CA.

Many people remember Babe as the friendly lady at the teller window at the bank in Breese, where she worked for many years. She also worked at other local businesses over a 40-year work career combined with being a Mom to six children plus a caregiver to her parents and mother-in-law. She worked like a rented animal with nary a complaint.

She was a lifelong member of St. Dominic Parish and attended St. Dominic Grade School and High School, graduating in 1952. She was a cheerleader and acted in plays when she wasn’t working in the family business: Altepeter, Inc. She was involved with many of the St. Dominic Church organizations over the years. If you ever went to a bake sale, funeral luncheon, or other events at St. Dominic, chances are you had something she baked or cooked!

Proud of her family history and her hometown, Breese, she was a member of the Breese Historical Society and volunteered at the hospital as a pink lady. She loved dancing, playing cards, traveling, live theater, gardening, and simply hanging out with her family. She was no stranger to the nickel slots on the Casino Queen. She liked going out to very nice restaurants when she traveled and singing in the choir. She was a clothes horse and was passionate about dressing well. She was a regular at the Muny Opera, The Fox, and the Cardinals. (Of course!) She tolerated watching football, really liked basketball, and loved baseball!

She was an absolutely frightening driver, a reluctant yet dutiful cook, and a really good baker. A child of the depression and the war years, she was tougher than a $2 steak but the first person to cry while watching a movie. She maintained an extensive collection of used shopping bags, rubber bands, empty thread spools, ski bottle caps, and a small truckload of redneck Tupperware. She had multiple junk drawers- because “we will find a place to use that stuff.”

Her grandchildren were the wind beneath her wings. She spoiled them with gifts of herself. She was the kind of grandmother who would get on the floor and play with the grandkids. She would indulge them with SKI soda at Midnight and popcorn or cookies for breakfast. She insisted the grandchildren should sleep in her big, comfy bed while she slept on the old sofa. For 50 consecutive years, she made sure someone dressed up as Santa Claus came to the family house on Christmas Eve to hand out gifts to the kids and grandchildren.

She lived a life for others. She loved it so much that it was her heart that finally gave up in the end. She was so very compassionate and empathetic to those who struggled or those who were a little bit different. She was a net positive in people’s lives. She was selfless and gave of herself unconditionally to others. Always the optimist, The Babe was universally beloved and had no known enemies. Her children clearly won the “Mom Lottery.”

In lieu of flowers or memorials, The Family requests you call your mother and line up a visit or spend the day with some older person who no longer has anyone in their life----just like Babe would have done.

A visitation will be held Sunday, March 23, 2025, from 2:00-5:00 p.m. at Moss Funeral Home in Breese and again on Monday, March 24, 2025, from 10:00-11:00 a.m. at St. Dominic Catholic Church in Breese. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated Monday, March 24, 2025 at 11:00 a.m. at St. Dominic Catholic Church in Breese followed by a burial at St. Dominic/St. Augustine Cemetery. A luncheon will follow at Knights of Columbus in Breese.