Karl Louis Krusmark, Jr.

Published 12:00 am Saturday, January 10, 2009

Karl Louis Krusmark Jr., 77, of Demopolis passed away on Friday, Jan. 9, 2009, at UAB Hospital in Birmingham, after a battle with cancer.
Funeral services will be held on Monday, Jan. 12, at 2 p.m. at Kidd-Robbins Funeral Home Chapel with the Rev. Tommy Carr officiating. Visitation will be on Sunday, Jan. 11, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the funeral home.
Mr. Krusmark was born on June 11, 1931, in Casper, Wyo. He was raised in Casper and Brigham City, Utah. He graduated from Box Elder High School in Brigham City in 1949 and attended Utah State University. He then enlisted in the U.S. Navy and attended flight school at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Fla. While stationed in Pensacola, he met Betty Jean Holmes of Brewton, and they were married in Brewton in 1952 after he was commissioned as a naval officer.
Mr. Krusmark served as a Navy aircraft carrier pilot during the Korean War and was honorably discharged in 1955 with the rank of lieutenant junior grade. After receiving a degree in business administration from the University of Alabama, he moved his family to Demopolis in 1962 to operate Krusmark Oil Company. Mr. Krusmark and his wife grew their business to include a gift shop, plant nursery, landscaping service and floral design service and, working together as a family, continued to own and operate their business as Country Garden & Gifts until their retirement in 2001. Mr. Krusmark was a skilled horticulturist, woodworker and craftsman.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Karl Louis Krusmark Sr. and Charlotte Mueller Krusmark; one brother, Lee Mueller Krusmark; and one grandson, Jason Anthony Morgan.
He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Betty Jean Holmes Krusmark; six children, Deborah Jean (Jim) Hilderbrandt of Fairhope, Charlotte Ann (Jon) Vollnogle of New Waterford, Ohio, Karla Irene (Mike) Bahr of Hoover, Karl Louis “Butch” Krusmark III of Demopolis, Laura Lea (Joey) Morgan of Demopolis and Kristina Lynn (Michael Buchanan) Krusmark of Homewood; 12 grandchildren, Megan (Scott Weinstein) Gardner, Anna Hilderbrandt, Gerald (Betsy) Wilhelm, Kimberly Wilhelm (Josh) Louk, Hannah Vollnogle, Christopher Bahr, Lauren Bahr, Leslie Bahr, Amanda Krusmark (David) West, Kurt Krusmark, Carrie Morgan and Laura Kathryn Morgan; and one sister, Irene Krusmark (Walt) Colwell of Wheat Ridge, Colo.

Email newsletter signup