The ashes of Love Cruikshank, age 89, were interred Saturday, June 17, 2006, at Graceland Cemetery. She died at 5:25 a.m., June 15, 2006, at St. John’s Lutheran Home. The daughter of the late Warren and Jennie (Pierce) Cruikshank, Love was born Dec. 7, 1916 in Nebraska City, Neb.

The family moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 1934 and to Albert Lea in the fall of 1937. A graduate from Nebraska City High School, Love received a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Minnesota where she majored in English composition.

During World War II she served as a county welfare worker in Ramsey and Mower Counties. From September, 1949, until her retirement in February, 1982, she was employed by the Albert Lea Tribune, first in the back shop as a teletype puncher and then in the newsroom as family page editor. Until June 1, 2006, she was also a weekly editorial page contributor. Among numerous professional awards she received a first place nationally from American Press Women for her column Love Notes.

She was an active member of the Christian Science Church from earliest childhood. While still in her teens she began to ally herself with social progress in politics holding with Jose Ortega y Gasset that &8220;Liberalism is the supreme form of generosity. It is the right which the majority accords to minorities and hence it is the noblest cry that has ever resounded in the planet.&8221;

Love was also interested in the arts and in animals. It is suggested that any of her friends wishing to do so send memorial contributions to the Albert Lea Art Center or the Freeborn County Humane Society.