GROWING UP KRUSE: Dean Kruse

Act One: the Farm, the Senate and the Auction

Tiffany: How did Russell (father) become an auctioneer?

Dean: Russell was a grain and dairy farmer, like his parents. He wasn’t a very good farmer. He started his own farm in Flint, Indiana about 15 miles west of Angola with 500 acres on the Pigeon River. It was a sand farm, and the land gets powdery when there is no rain. He had to take a loan to survive a draught. He bought another farm, southwest of Fort Wayne on the Wabash. He had the opposite problem down there and was flooded out. At this point, he couldn’t borrow any more money.

He moved the family to Leo. There he met Paul Dunlap. He had a beautiful farm. He let Russell use part of his land for his cattle but there wasn’t enough ground to raise both feed and the 100-head of Holstein. Russell had to start buying feed which brought him to the cusp of bankruptcy.

Grandpa Boger (Lester, maternal) used to clerk auctions for many local auctioneers. He suggested to Russell that he try auctioneering since he had a beautiful singing voice. Russell attended Reppert’s (auction school) in the early 1950’s. He was so good that he immediately started booking a lot of auctions. Grandpa Boger started helping Russell once it became evident that he was going into the auction business. The business just grew and grew. It was like putting fish in pond. He just took to it naturally.

When I was 16, Russell sent me to Reppert’s. After I graduated, I started helping with the auctions. Two years into Kruse Auctions, he contracted with the Ellenberger Brothers to sell him out of the farming business. They auctioned off the real estate, equipment, and the cows. They were a big auction house that knew how to do it right and they held a great auction. When the auction was over, Russell was still $15,000 – 18,000 short of his loan.

He rented house by the television tower close to the County Line Church of God. This house was the first time we had indoor plumbing. There was a small barn on the property. David (brother, attorney) and I were in 4H so we got use the barn for our rabbits and chickens. We lived there for three years during which time Russel was able to pay off the remainder of his loan to the credit union.

It was the fastest anyone had ever paid off a loan at the credit union, so when Russell asked for a loan to build a house, they obliged. Grandpa Kruse (Fred, paternal) gave Russell some land and they built a house on CR31. The auction business had done so well they we able to pay off the home loan very quickly. Mom (Louella) loved to swim so they built a pool. It was one of the nicest pools in Auburn at the time.

Tiffany: Wow! I did not know what kind of farm Russell owned. I always assumed it was nearer to Grandpa (Fred) Kruse’s farm. So how and when did the conversations come about with regards to the Auburn auction?

Dean: The museum was holding the car show and festival there in Auburn every year. They were losing $4,000-5,000 annually. They invited Russell and I to lunch at the country club. It was Bill Johnson, John Martin Smith, and Jack Ranelli. They wanted us to go around town to all the merchants and gather donated items for an auction. Russell suggested that instead, we should sell cars. Each year during the festival, there would always be 10-20 cars parked around the square with for sale signs. The festival committee told Russell they did not care what kind of auction he held; they just wanted the $5,000 shortage covered.

Russell did some research and Leo Gephart’s name kept popping up. Leo was an antique car dealer in Dayton, Ohio. Russell called Leo and offered him one-third of the profits if he would become an advisor and help get consignments for the auction. Leo agreed and became a partner.

The land behind the Dairy Queen was just a hay field and not too far from the city square. Russell made a deal with Dick Burkman who owned the property. Dick suggested steel posts to mark off the area for auction. I think we paid him about $1,000 to use 3-4 acres. We put up the posts along with some rope and a tent. It was decided that the ACD festival would get the gate money for their shortfall.

We started promoting the auction and got a lot of traction in the media because it was the first of its kind. ABC, NBC, and CBS all did stories about the event on their nightly news. In response, thousands of people show up. We were totally unprepared for the response to the auction. I think we only collected admission from 1 out of 3 people. Many just walked right over or under the ropes. Even so, the museum was able to collect $12,000…so they were very happy! I think the final estimate was that 10,000-20,000 people were in attendance.

The Dairy Queen was there and we had a man selling barbeque but there just wasn’t enough food. Everyone went to the grocery stores, buying anything that would travel back to the sale site. All the cold cut meats, cheeses, chips, pretzels, peanut butter and so forth were completely gone off the shelves.

Tiffany: I bet Auburn did not know what hit it! (laughing)

Dean: No. I don’t think anyone understood the match we had lit. In fact, the morning of the auction, I was heading over to help auctioneer and work. I asked Mitchell (eldest son) to come along and help. We hopped in the car, and I started toward CR68. I got about two-thirds of the way, and it was backed up with traffic. We sat there for a few minutes before I said to Mitchell, “there must be a wreck”. I turned around to go up 427. Found more traffic and decided it must be a train. Backtracked again so I could get on I69. About halfway into town, I hit yet more traffic. I turned to Mitchell and said, “I think all these people are going to that crazy auction we’re holding!” Traffic was backed up on both sides of the highway, but I knew I needed to get there and soon, or Russell would be angry. I pulled onto the berm of the highway and started driving. People were screaming at me and giving me the finger, but I kept going all the way up to the exit. When I reached the exit, I put one tire on the curb and the other in grass and just kept driving. I just stayed on the grass all the way to the sale site. I could not believe the mob of people! Soon after I arrived, helicopters started flying overhead. CBS and NBC had flown over from Detroit and ABC from Chicago.

We had a Duesenberg in that first auction. The bid got all the way up to $90,000 but the consignor would not sell. The evening news headline reported, “Two Fools Meet in Auburn, Indiana” and the story read about how one man bid $90,000 on old Duesenberg and another wouldn’t sell. That story made news all over the world including Hong Kong, the UK, and South America. At this point, we knew we were on to something.

Immediately after the auction was over, we started getting phone calls from communities all over the country asking us to hold auctions like that in their hometowns. We got 50 in the first week. By the end of the second week, we had well over 100.

Tiffany: Was this before or after you served as a state senator?

Dean: Just after.

Tiffany: How involved were you in the world of politics?

Dean: I served as the Republican Chairman for DeKalb County for 26 years. Indiana Fourth District Chairman for 5 Years. Republican State Central Committee for 5 years. State Senator in Indiana for 4 years. Democrat, Roger Branigin was the Governor at that time (1965-1969). I was named as a liaison to the federal government during the Nixon administration. Every couple of months, I would go to Washington DC for the patronage of Indiana.

We needed a new lifetime federal judge office in the northern district of the state. I was sent to meet with the US Senators representing Indiana, White House officials and others trying to persuade the President, ultimately to create this office. Eventually I met with a man by the name of Schattner.

He had a big, long office in the basement of the White House. Inside was a long, narrow desk, surrounded by 10 chairs. He was sitting at the far end of the desk opposite the doorway with a Coca-Cola in his hand. He motioned me to come sit.

He said I understand you need a lifetime federal judge for northern Indiana. I said yes. He asked if we knew who we wanted for the office. I said we were unsure. He told me when everyone agrees, let me know. I asked if I had to run the name by the Governor. He said no, just get me a name and a short resume. Then he said something I have never forgotten…”by the way, President Johnson was getting about $50,000 cash per appointment, but we’ve raised it $75,000”. I almost fell out of my chair. I explained that Indiana was not a wealthy state and the Republican Party only had about $25,000 in their bank account. He nodded and repeated to me to get him a name and resume and he would get it done.

About a week later, a man from the commercial utilities commission came into the republican offices with a brown grocery bag. He said he’d heard we needed a new federal judge and inside the bag was the cash we needed. We put it in a drawer. A few days later, a representative from the railroad association came in with another brown paper bag containing another $25,000. We put it in a drawer. A few more days go by and a man from a large natural gas company came in with yet another $25,000 in brown paper bag. We put it in a drawer, and I called Schattner to let him know we had the monies needed in cash. He told me to bring it to DC, but I resisted explaining I was just a farm boy from Indiana. He said no problem and set up a meeting between me and the Postmaster General in Indianapolis at the airport. I told him I was too scared to take that amount of the money to airport, so the Postmaster General made his way instead to the state committee offices. There I met him and handed off the brown paper bags. Soon enough, Judge Sharp received a lifetime appointment as a US Judge for the northern district of the State of Indiana.

Tiffany: Yikes! I think the world of auctions might be a bit safer than politics. Let’s get back there. So…which person and city did you all choose first?

Dean: Russell, Daniel, Dennis, Leo, and I sat down to discuss all of the calls and decide where to start. The decision was made to begin with Tom Barrett out of Scottsdale, Arizona. When he called, he told us that he had two vehicles (770K Armored Mercedes-Benz) formally owned by Adolf Hitler and a collection of about 30 cars.

To be continued…