Gertrude Chapman Krull

Gertrude Chapman Krull
Gertrude Chapman Krull died peacefully in Enloe Hospital on 11/12/13. She was 101 years old. Gertie was born on September 3rd 1912 in Greeley, Colorado to George Lincoln and Mary Josephine (Minor) Chapman. Gertrude had an older sister Katherine and a younger brother George M. The family moved to Great Falls, Montana and then to Southern California, in 1920, where first the family lived on the Balboa Peninsula before settling in Santa Ana. Gertie went to grade school in Santa Ana. Her mother and father, who both loved the mountains, made sure the family had a cabin up in the San Bernardino Mountains. The cabin was named Dun Rovin and was a summer escape from the heat of Orange County. Gertrude was an outdoorsy girl but she was artistic by nature and she adored her dolls and loved to sew for them. Gertrude married E. Floyd Hubbard in 1934 and lived in Anaheim, Villa Park, Costa Mesa, and Newport Beach. She had two children, Eugene and Katherine but lost her first child, Mary Lou. She sewed most of her children’s clothes. She loved to cook and read to her kids. She made Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls and clothes for Madame Alexander and Terri Lee dolls. Ceramics were always part of Gertie’s life. She had her own kiln and molds to create her ceramics and enjoyed painting them. She carved wood into ducks and geese. She knitted, made upholstered furniture, and loved any art project, Gertie was like her mother and father and had the family up at Dun Rovin in the summer. The cabin had no electricity or running water and Gertie cooked on a wood stove. Gene and Kathy rode horses, hiked in the mountains and played endless games of double deck Canasta underneath the glow of a Coleman lamp. Gertie was always active in the church. She was a camp counselor at the Episcopal Church’s Camp at Big Bear Lake and was in the Altar Guild. She was a Girl Scout leader, taking a group of Brownies, including her daughter through Senior Scouts. She was one of the original founders of the Fire Sirens, an auxiliary of the Peninsula Fire Department, at Lake Almanor Country Club. In addition to all of Gertie’s creative adventures, she also like the adventure of travel and continued to travel throughout her whole life. She lived two summers on Siletz River in Oregon, took four Caribbean trips, went through the Panama Canal, traveled all over Europe, and made many sojourns to Mexico. Since Gertie loved having her children and grandchildren accompanying her, she cruised to Alaska three times and went up the Mississippi River three times with her family. The only places Gertie regretted not traveling to--included Australia and New Zealand. In 1959, Gertie married Irvin “Doc” Krull and moved to Lake Almanor. Twice, they moved back to southern California. They bought two different condos at Leisure World Laguna Hills. But the mountains always called them back. Through three different houses, Lake Almanor was Gertie’s home for nearly five decades. Her last trip to the lake was in October of 2013, and she so enjoyed the beauty of her favorite place on Earth. Kathy, Gertie’s daughter, moved to Chico in 1973. She married Jim Sweeney in 1979. Gertie moved to Chico 1988 and dedicated the remainder of her life to her family. The family greatly increased with Kathy’s marriage to Jim. Jim’s seven children, their children, and their children’s children, all became part of Gertie’s extended family. Chico became Gertie’s permanent home, and she lived in four different places in Chico before spending the last ten years at Prestige Assisted Living. She went to Enloe Hospital on November 3, the Sweeney’s were her family in the end and she was ours. Gertie passed on the 12th, with her daughter and son at her side. The family would like to thank Enloe Hospital for their loving and compassionate care. A celebration of Gertie’s life will be held Summer of 2014 at Lake Almanor. Somewhere, Gertie’s fingers hold a needle lined with thread and her left hand holds a small shaped fabric. She’s knitting, carving wood, making things for her family. Gertie’s hands, her fingers and her mind are strong and 100 years long. Gertie, is survived by her daughter Kathy, her son Gene, Costa Mesa; grandchildren, Kirk, Sandy, Utah; Kristy, Redding; and Michelle, Carmichael; great grandchildren, Channelle, Cody, and Baily, great great grandchildren, Alycia, and Anthony, Jim Sweeney and his children Colleen, Jim Jr, Jeneen, Cathleen, Maureen, Mike and Patrick.