About Kruse

Entrepreneur John Kruse is the Founder, sole owner, auctioneer and chief certified appraiser, of Kruse Auctions. He was born in Auburn, Indiana, and has chosen to live his entire life in Auburn – The Classic Car Capital of the World. He recently participated in his 30th Auburn Auction over Labor Day Weekend and now looks forward to the next 30. Following a century of the family farming, his grandfather, Russell Kruse, graduated from the Reppert School of Auctioneering in 1952 and began the family legacy of auctioneering. John’s father, Senator Dennis Kruse, is regarded as the most influential and respected auction industry educator ever and is a past president and Hall of Fame member of the esteemed National Auction Association. He also spent 33 years as an elected official, recently retiring from the Indiana State Senate. John’s three brothers, Matthew, Tim, and Daniel, will often be found working Kruse Auctions.

John’s first paying job, at four years old, was running auction clerk tickets from the auction block to the office for his grandfather and father’s farm auctions. He sold his first item on the microphone at age 15 working at the local DeKalb County 4-H Auction – an annual auction event he now volunteer coordinates each year.

As an entrepreneur, John has chosen to have his primary focus be collector cars and collector car auctions. Freedom is a core value and he strongly believes that cars provide us with more freedom to come and go as we please than any other common social object. Collector cars also provide perhaps the most significant community where people of all backgrounds, beliefs, and cultures, come together around their common love of cars. In addition to collector car auctions, he has also been a license Real Estate Broker for over 25 years, owns and operates Auburn Classic Cars collector car dealership, currently serves as the Chairman of the Indiana Auction Commission, President of the Reppert Auction Education Institute, and Chairman of the Board for the J. Kruse Education Center, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit featuring Career Quest, a career exploration center, and the individualized and personalized Career Coaching Academy, with a focus on assisting K-12 students and transitioning veterans as they discover their God-given passions and talents, while guiding them to an ideal career path and connecting them with fulfilling careers.