He was a proud child of the Upper Midwest, but nonetheless seized an early opportunity to travel the world and serve his country as a young man.
William Patrick “Pat” Kruer, who left the University of Michigan as an undergraduate in favor of joining the U.S. Navy in the thick of the Vietnam War, died last month at a senior-living home in La Jolla following a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. He was 78.
Kruer first saw San Diego as part of his military service and planted roots that still stretch deep into the community. He was a consummate dresser, favored fast cars and built a thriving real estate company.
“He was a rare combination of incredibly smart and hard-working, but he had a real charisma,” said Sarah Kruer Jager, the older of his two daughters. “It was the force of his personality that was part of his success.”
Kruer was renowned for his storytelling and held at the ready what seemed an endless stream of over-the-top adventures that never failed to delight his friends and family — including one story of how, on a fishing trip in Botswana, he fended off a crocodile attack with a gun he’d never fired. A newspaper there dubbed him “Crocodile Kruer,” his family said.
(Courtesy of the Kruer family)
Kruer loved politics, and was an avowed Democrat at a time when San Diego was dominated by Republicans.
He helped elect Democrats at every level of government, including former Vice President Al Gore, California Sen. Alan Cranston and a host of state and local representatives.
He also served on more than his share of public boards and commissions.
Former state Sen. Christine Kehoe, who became the first openly gay candidate elected in San Diego County when she won a San Diego City Council seat in 1993, served with Kruer on the California Coastal Commission.
Kruer’s appointment to the board responsible for protecting the coast was unusual for a real estate developer, Kehoe said, and he managed the responsibilities well.
She also remembered that Kruer had gone out on a limb years earlier, when he endorsed Neil Good for a San Diego council seat in the 1980s.
“Nineteen eighty-seven was pretty early for a gay candidate,” Kehoe said. “But he liked Neil and thought he would be a good council member. Pat was not beholden to old-fashioned thinking.”
Kehoe said Kruer always sought consensus on a difficult regulatory board, where decisions could swing multimillion-dollar deals and generate enmity from powerful quarters.
“Coastal Commission politics were always contentious and controversial,” she said. “And he tried to cut a middle path. It didn’t always work, but he tried.”
Born in tiny Hart, Mich., in 1945, Kruer was anxious to see beyond the apple farms and sand dunes for which Oceana County remains famous. His mother died when he was a teenager.
He left Michigan for the Navy in the mid-1960s and landed on an aircraft carrier in Southeast Asia. He never lost the travel bug but was determined to carve out a livelihood in his adopted hometown of San Diego.
Kruer began studying the local real estate market, watching others in the field and nurturing key relationships.
Rod Stone was paying attention. Thirty-plus years ago, after his longtime mentor retired, Stone was quick to seek out Kruer as his new partner in real estate development.
“I was looking for someone who was honest, intelligible and realized the ramifications of our business,” Stone said. “Pat had that business sense and integrity, and that’s why I thought we would be a good match.”
The two co-founders of the Monarch Group built thousands of apartments and other projects across Southern California.
Stone said Kruer arrived at the office one day and announced that an airplane had landed on the freeway just ahead of him on his way into work.
“Pat always had a phenomenal story to tell us,” Stone said. “There was always something that happened to Pat that was fascinating.”
Kruer married his first wife, Jeanne, more than 50 years ago. The couple had a son, Jonathan Patrick Kruer, or J.P., who died at 32 in 2004.
Barbara Bry, the former journalist and San Diego council member, met Kruer after his divorce while on assignment for the Sacramento Bee at a 1977 housing conference in San Francisco.
“I met him at the diner and we talked for a bit, but I thought I’d never see him again,” Bry said. “This was pre-internet and pre-cellphone, so there was a press room at the convention, and he comes up the next day to look for me.”
The pair began dating and were married in 1980. The relationship did not last, but they had two daughters and remained friends after their 1993 divorce.
Kruer is survived by his first wife, Jeanne Kruer; his second wife, Barbara Bry; a brother, George “Tim” Kruer; a sister, Nancy Jackson; two daughters, Sarah Kruer Jager and Rachel Aberasturi; and multiple nieces, nephews and grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his son, Jonathan Patrick “J.P.” Kruer.
No public service is scheduled. The family requests that any remembrances be made to the San Diego Housing Fund at sdfoundation.org.
