Sarah 'Sallie' Cruse

Sarah "Sallie" Ernst Cruse 72, of Papillion, Nebraska, passed away Wednesday, July 22, 2020 at Sunny Knoll Care Centre in Rockwell City, Iowa, after a long battle with 2 Lymphatic diseases. It would be wrong to say that Sallie lost her battle because she never stopped fighting. Though Sallie's health had been failing for years, few people knew the extent to which she struggled. She didn't want them to and no matter how sick she was, she was always determined to push through the pain to be here for her family. When anyone else would have broken, Sallie stayed strong. Her love for her family was immeasurable. Sallie is survived by her husband, Garland William (Bill) Cruse; her daughters Annette (Travis) Register and Amy (Mark) Stock; her grandsons Luke and Aaron, brothers John (Butch) Ernst, Jr. and Dave (Cindy) Ernst, and many nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews. She is preceded in death by her brother, Steve Ernst and her parents John F. Ernst and Ruth Ernst. Sallie was a devoted wife, mother, and grandmother. She and her husband, Bill, celebrated 45 years of marriage in September of 2019. They moved to Nebraska in 1976 where they lived together until she required full time care and had to be transferred to a nursing home in Iowa. She worked in the Papillion La Vista School District as a health para for over 20 years and before that as a nurse at Methodist Hospital. She knew every sports trivia fact you could think of and probably some you couldn't! She was a devout Atlanta Braves baseball, Husker football, and Nascar fan, but her greatest love was her family. She will be deeply missed by them and all who knew her. Per her wishes, there will be no service. In lieu of flowers, she requested donations be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation in honor of her daughter, who has Type 1 diabetes. Additionally, her daughter requests donations be made to Lipedema and Lymphedema research. These terrible diseases are still very misunderstood and there are few in the medical field with knowledge about either and she suffered with both of them for far too long. We are thankful she is finally at peace and no longer in pain. Palmer & Swank Funeral Home, Rockwell City is serving the family.