Dayton Kruse will be remembered as a joyful, sincere and open person. Kruse, a senior in photography, passed away late last Thursday evening in a car accident outside of Greenville.
News of his death came Friday morning just before Craig Buck’s Environmental Portraiture class, where many students knew Kruse. During this time of shock and grief, Buck offered words that are still ringing in the ears of students. Buck said, as photography students, we are part of a tight family. He went on to say, no matter how well we knew Dayton, we are affected both by this tragedy and by his life-if you knew Dayton, you tried to reach out to him.
Shelly Cervantes, a friend of Kruse, was the last person to photograph him. The picture she took that day eerily hung on the wall as Buck spoke.
“Any time you see a friend you never think it might be the last time you see them,” Cervantes said. “I was blessed enough to get to see Dayton the last day he was with us and got to photograph him as well. At that time I had no idea that I wouldn’t see him again. This photograph means so much more now than my original intention ever did.”
His funeral was standing room only. In attendance were 20 photo students and professors from A&M-Commerce.
“It was exciting to see that many people knew Dayton,” Emory Marshall, housemate of Kruse, said. “Everyone there had lost a deep friend because he reached out to everyone.”
Danea Males, a graduate student in photography, had known Kruse for the past six years and shared feelings also held by other students.
“Some of my favorite memories of Dayton are when he would come over to my house for the weekly Movie Night that I host for some of my friends. After watching the movie, we would sit on the back porch, drink a beer and discuss our thoughts on the film. That discussion would lead to further talk about our lives, loves and losses,” Males said.
“He was a sensitive, kind soul and I will greatly miss him. His death has taught me that I should appreciate every moment spent with friends and loved ones. Life is so fragile, and neglecting to take advantage of every opportunity to spend time with those closest to you is tragic.”