Kroetch and Cone Cousins

Frank Kroetch was one of four siblings and was born to Dorothy Elaine (Ferguson) Kroetch and Hollis "Joe" Joseph Kroetch. As far as I know (grandson), Frank and his brother & two sisters had a bit of a rough childhood, having been separated into different groups living with various family members. He was one of the youngest to serve on the USS Killen for the U.S Navy in World War II. In fact, he lived his entire life thinking he was the youngest crew mate on the ship (he lied about his age to serve in WW2), but found out in the late 1990's at a Killen shipmates reunion in San Francisco that one lad had him beat by a handful of days. He married Marian "Joyce" Benning and had two children Kathy Pinna and Pamela Marks. He later married Carol (Antonsen) Kroetch and they raised John Kroetch. He was a very smart man (with an IQ that tested between 165 and 185) and good looking - charismatic! He was a life-long entrepreneur starting numerous businesses in various industries after attending the University of Washington and graduating from San Jose State University. He lived in both California (where his daughters were born) and Washington (where he was born and died). Frank was never baptized (as far as his child Kathy knows) and has no burial site. He was cremated and his ashes distributed between his wife and two daughters. He was quite a human being and we all miss him every day.

Joyce Vandever (as she was known in her later years) was a loving mother of two daughters Kathleen Rae (Kroetch) Pinna & Pam (Kroetch) Marks who she had with Frank Kroetch, and grandma to two grandchildren Daniel J Pinna & Layne. Joyce had a half-sister, Lois (Benning) Ewen, the product of her father's first marriage. She also had a step-brother, Charles Henry Barrett Jr., from her mother's second marriage to Charles Henry "Heine" Barrett. She had many friends and relatives in California, Washington state, England and Wales. Her best childhood and lifelong closest friend was Beverly Clarice (Washington) Scoffone in Monte Sereno California. Joyce loved being a grandmother and spent countless weekends with her grandchildren. She lived in the California Hawaiian mobile home park at 3637 Snell Ave in San Jose for many years when it was an adult community. To hear Joyce describe herself see Joyce Vandever In Her Own Words