A graveside service for Zelma will be held Tuesday, February 14, 2023 at 2:00 PM at Desert View Memorial Park, 11500 Amargosa Rd., Victorville, California 92392. Following the graveside service will be a reception from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM at Desert View Funeral Home, 11478 Amargosa Rd, Victorville, California 92392.
Zelma Lee Haslip was born in Ozark, Missouri on December 26, 1934. She was the sixth of ten children born to Floyd Haslip and Ona Francis (Bilyeu) Haslip. Zelma grew up in Ozark, and later lived in Springfield and Republic, Missouri. Her first husband abandoned her and their daughter Sandy. Zelma then married Everett Helms, and helped him run his TV and radio shop on Main Street in Republic. They had three children -- Clyde, Don and Diana.
After that marriage ended in divorce, Zelma worked as a waitress at the Wagon Wheel Cafe in Republic. One day, while hanging a shelf at the cafe, a man asked if she would like some help. That man was Bill Kruger Jr of Billings, Missouri, the next town over. Thus began a life-long romance that brought them both more happiness and joy than they'd ever experienced. Bill married Zelma and her four kids, and the family moved to Ontario, California.
Their sons Mark and Mike were born while the family lived in Ontario. Bill worked as an auto mechanic, while Zelma stayed home with the kids and worked in the home as a dressmaker and babysitter. She enjoyed watching her "stories" (soap operas) on TV, and writing poetry, which she often shared with close family. She was an excellent cook, homemaker, and a very skilled seamstress who made most of her kids' clothes. About 1973, Zelma went to work at Builders Emporium in Upland, California.
Around 1980, after the older kids had left home, Bill, Zelma, Mike and Mark moved to Hesperia, California, where Zelma went to work at the H&E Home Improvement store in Victorville. She started as a cashier, and was quickly promoted to assistant manager. When a new H&E store opened in Hesperia, Zelma was appointed manager of that store, where she worked alongside her crew, vowing that she would never ask them to do anything she wouldn't do herself, including driving the forklift occasionally. When customers would ask how much lumber they needed to complete a project, Zelma was one of the few who could figure out the correct answer, and was often called on to assist those folks. She worked very hard, and as Hesperia grew, so did the store. She received many performance bonuses and awards before retiring in the late 1990s.
Bill and Zelma enjoyed working in their yard, going to garage sales, eating out, and doing EVERYTHING together. They made many road trips to visit family in Oklahoma and Missouri. In their later years, Bill was bedridden with Alzheimer's, and Zelma was his constant companion and caregiver until his death at home in 2015. The infamous California drought and watering restrictions killed most of their landscaping, but Zelma still enjoyed tending to a few flower beds, a small goldfish and koi pond, and feeding the birds.
As the years wore on, Zelma's health declined, and she sorely missed being able to use a chainsaw or a hula-hoe in her yard. After being very sick in November and December, Zelma died at home on January 1, 2023. She was preceded in death by her parents, Floyd and Ona Haslip, her siblings, Wilma (Haslip) Allen, Verlin Haslip, Vernon "Jack" Haslip, Fern (Haslip) Lamb, and Billy "Bill" Haslip, her husband William "Bill" Robert Kruger Jr, two daughters, Sandra June (Helms) Renstrom, and Diana Kay (Helms) McAllister, and two grandsons, Shane Fowler and William Renstrom. She is survived by her siblings, Betty (Haslip) Julian, Peggy (Haslip) Lawrence, and Ray Haslip, (also known as Roy Haslip) of Springfield, Missouri, and Joseph "Joe" Haslip of Mustang, Oklahoma, her children, Clyde Allen Helms and his wife Londa Bock-Helms of Rancho Cucamonga, California, Floyd Don Helms and his wife Wanda Jean Helms of Norman, Oklahoma, Mark Randall Kruger and his wife Tammy Kruger of Redlands, California, Michael Wayne Kruger of Hesperia, California, and Bill's daughter, Kathy O'neal of Tulsa, Oklahoma, 14 grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren, and dozens and dozens of in-laws, nieces, nephews, and friends. She was truly loved by everyone who knew her and her great sense of humor, kindness, fairness for all and even her fiery temper (which never lasted long) will be missed so much!
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.desertviewcares.com for the Kruger family.
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