Rancho Santa Margarita, CA – Alice E. Kratochvil (nee Hurlbut), 96, died peacefully Wednesday, October 11th, 2017 at Mission Hospital, Mission Viejo, CA, attended by her son Gary and daughter-in-law Cindy. In addition to Gary and Cindy, she is survived by her four grandsons, two daughters-in-law, six great-grandchildren, and sister-in-law, Helen Musil of San Diego, CA. Her husband Adolf (“Duff”) and son David Kratochvil of Kailua, Hawaii preceded her in death. Also preceding her in death were her brother Charles Hurlbut of Lincoln, NE, older sister Claribel Triplett of Omaha, NE and younger sister Erma Ballentine of Scottsbluff, NE. Alice was born on July 1, 1921 in Valpariso, Nebraska to Albert and Myrtle Hurlbut. Alice lived with her parents in Lincoln, NE where she worked after graduation from high school until February 18, 1943, when she was married to her sweetheart Duff Kratochvil in Waco, TX where he was undergoing training for service in World War II. From Waco, Alice and Duff were transferred to Robins Air Force Base in Georgia where he underwent additional training, but the newly weds had little time together as soldiers were mostly confined to base preparing for wartime deployment to England, France, and Germany. During Duff’s wartime deployment, Alice returned to live with her parents in Lincoln where she served the war effort driving military vehicles at Lincoln Army Air Field. In 1945, Duff returned from Europe and was honorably discharged. The couple continued living in Lincoln where Alice set up housekeeping while Duff worked for two years as a highway engineer for the Roads and Irrigation department. During this time, their oldest child, Gary, was born in 1946. In 1947, Duff reenlisted for a career in the Air Force during which the family undertook frequent moves including Rapid City, SD (where the second child, David was born); Omaha, NE; Athens, OH; Japan; Fresno, CA; Anchorage, AK; and San Antonio, TX. During various of these moves, Alice took jobs to supplement the family income and to provide opportunities to the family that were denied Alice and Duff as they grew up during the Great Depression. Some of these jobs included working at a shoe store, clerking at the Army & Air Force Base Exchange and volunteering as a receptionist at the Wilford Hall Air Force Hospital. After 30 years of service to the country, Alice and Duff retired in 1974 and purchased a small acreage south of San Antonio to fulfill a life-long dream of planting and raising a pecan orchard. Alice and Duff spent the first two years of retirement building by their own hands their beautiful home. For the next 26 years, Alice was finally able to “put down roots” making life-long friendships with neighboring farmers and retired couples while Duff tended what affectionately became known as “The Farm”. Alice’s devotion to family and friends was the hallmark of her life. If she wasn’t baking and preparing gifts of produce from the family garden for friends and neighbors, she was tending their illnesses, shopping for them, and as needed transporting them to medical appointments. The joy of her life was in welcoming her children’s and grandchildren’s families to the retreat of “The Farm”. Every family visit was marked by “Grandma’s famous apple pie, banana bread, peanut butter or chocolate chip cookies”, and a Sunday dinner of pot roast or BBQ ribs, fried potatoes, and baked beans. By 2012, the acreage and orchard were becoming too difficult to maintain and in December Alice and Duff relocated from San Antonio to Rancho Santa Margarita (RSM), CA to be close to their surviving son, Gary and wife Cindy. For a time, Alice was able to care for Duff at an “Over 55” community, but a fall and resulting hip fracture and pneumonia necessitated their move to Park Terrace, an assisted living facility in RSM. But, even there, Alice’s sense of caring and devotion would not be dimmed. Despite her own failing health, Alice was insistent on being Duff’s primary care giver. Even following the loss of Duff in April 2017, Alice could be found helping other residents at Park Terrace and reminding staff of others needs. Her biggest worry when headed back to the hospital one last time to try to combat recurrent pneumonia was for a new resident at Park Terrace who had not yet had time to develop a network of friends. Her cremated ashes will be buried with Duff at Miramar National Cemetery, San Diego, CA. A memorial service will be held on Monday, November 6, 2017 at 2:00 PM at Fairhaven Memorial Chapel in Mission Viejo, CA.
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