Built on Heritage, Driven by Integrity, Guided by Vision

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.

John is a Life Member of the National Auction Association, National Auctioneer License Law Officials Association, Life Member of the Classic Car Club of America (CCCA), Life Member of the Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA), Life Member of the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Club, and Life Member and past Trustee of the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Musuem. He has also been a financial supporter of the ACD Club and ACD Festival in Auburn for many years.

A service-oriented solutions provider, John grew up in and around public service and has served on many community boards and in the political and public policy arena, including being elected twice as a township trustee. He remains active in local, state, and national public policy including as a board member for SEMA & PRI PAC, working to protect automotive freedom for our treasured automotive and racing industries.

Most importantly, John is a husband to his wife Abby, and father to their two children, who can be found working at their auction events. Their family enjoys using classic cars together and participating in car related experiences.

Brian’s love for automobiles can be traced all the way back to the day he was born, as he was born into a family car affair. Captivated from a young age, especially by his families AMCs and Hudsons, Brian would acquire his first classic at age 14, a 1973 AMC Javelin. Brian could later be found helping his dad restore some of the most desirable Hudsons in the world, which include multiple Hudson Italias, one of which even graced the show field at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

Before joining the Kruse Auctions team as our General Manager, Brian spent most of his career in retail banking. Brian spent over a decade with one of the largest banking institutions in the U.S., and was a key player in building, training, and deploying retail banking teams toward new initiatives in St. Petersburg, Florida, South Bend, Indiana, and Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Outside the office, Brian can be found spending time with his wife, Katey, and their three boys and grandson. Brian and his family enjoy cheering for Michigan University’s football and basketball teams and working on their growing collection of Hudson, AMC and Saab vehicles.

Jim is a dynamic communicator who excels at achieving goals for clients. With over 25 years in the business, he has been a trusted guide in sales and acquisition in the collector and special interest industry.

His experience includes owning, managing, and building multiple dealerships and organizations and has bought and sold at nearly all collector car auction houses, giving a unique perspective as both a buyer and seller.

Jim and his wife, Allison, have been married for 27 years and have three grown sons. He is based in the Southeast US and currently resides with his wife on Florida’s west coast. In addition to cars, his interest includes his family, sailing, traveling, and coaching soccer.

Davids role with Kruse Auctions is Chief Financial Officer (CFO). He has a long and well-rounded career covering public accounting to buying and selling businesses of his own. As a graduate of Indiana University, he joined a small public accounting firm and pursued his MBA during that time. He eventually moved to a private company and assisted to purchase that company with other members of management. From there he went on to purchase/sell/operate several businesses. John Kruse was a customer of one of the businesses. After David decided to sell his company, John reached out and asked him to join the Kruse Auctions team.

If you have ever been to an Auburn sale, or various other collector car auctions around North America, then we guarantee you’ve seen or worked with Stu, as he is a veteran in the collector car industry and has been our head of Motorcar Logistics since 2008 here at Kruse Auctions.

Stu, along with a team of security personnel, mechanics and detailers, is responsible for overseeing and caring for your vehicle from the moment it arrives on-site at one of auctions or our global headquarters in Auburn, Indiana. Knowledgeable in all makes and models of vehicles, Stu has worked on and with some of the most historically significant and desirable automobiles in existence.

Bradey graduated from Huntington University with a degree in Communications and Marketing; while there, he was on scholarship for Track & Field where he competed in the pole vault and decathlon and broke multiple school records. Bradey is also a graduate of Reppert School of Auctioneering and a licensed auctioneer.

Bradey has been rooted in the collector car industry since 2019 and is Kruse Auctions in-house researcher and writer. Bradey is responsible for an array of tasks, like writing the descriptions that go into the car auction catalogs, exploring the history of automobiles, handling historical documents, and helping generate new marketing content for print and online ads. Bradey can also be seen on the auction podium during the sales as our color commentator or traveling throughout North America attending Concours or further tracking Duesenberg Model Js for his task, The Great Model J Chase.

Tammy has been in the collector car auction industry since 2013 and has played a crucial role in Kruse Auctions success as Executive Assistant over the years. Before that, she worked as a printing and promotional specialist overseeing multiple companies. Tammy is involved in an array of things when it comes to the day-to-day operations that help keep the business running smoothly, like coordinating in-house travel, helping oversee and distribute titles for vehicles and auction contracts, proofing and assisting in the compilation of our boutique auction catalogs and working in the Auction Office as a checkout specialist during our sales.

Born and raised in the Classic Car Capital of the World, Auburn, Indiana, Marcy grew up around cars as her parents owned and operated a local auto body repair shop prior to their retirement. She and her family would attend the annual Auburn Auction & Show since she was young.

Marcy’s working career has been spent in client services for over thirty years, working in various fields of business. She looks forward to assisting you with registering to bid, check out paperwork and title preparation.

With multiple years of experience behind the lens of a camera, Bobbie has become our head of photography here at Kruse Auctions. Her day-to-day consists of photographing the vehicles for our auctions and private sales division, photoshopping, and coordinating in-and-out-of-state photo shoots for our catalogs.

Outside the office, she can be found spending time with her two daughters and husband Josh or enjoying their Mustangs and BMWS.

After graduating from PFW with a degree in both graphic design and photography, Taylor joined the Kruse Auctions team and has been a key part of the graphics division. Taylor is responsible for both the digital and print marketing martial, photoshopping, as well as assembling our extensive and detailed auction catalogs. When she is not in the office, she can be found visiting art museums and galleries around the country, refining her skills by doing freelance work for various museums or at home playing with her Golden retriever, Milo.

A passionate videographer and photographer, Evan has found much favor behind the lens of a camera over the years. As part of the Kruse Auctions team, Evan is responsible for creating and editing our video content that can be seen throughout our social media platforms. Additionally, he helps oversee and update our Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube accounts.
Outside the office, Evan can be found working on various film projects, furthering his skill sets, or spending quality time with his wife, Ashley, and their six children.

Taking more of a behind-the-scenes approach, Patrick plays a key role on the automotive logistics team at Kruse Auctions. Before joining the team full-time, Patrick served in the Army as a Medic Specialist. He then went on to graduate from the NASCAR Technical Institute in North Carolina where he was certified on all types of makes and models, including classic and modern-day sports cars.

As an integral member of the logistics team, Patrick helps maintain and look after the vehicles the second they arrive on site until they are loaded on the trucks and shipped out.

If not wrenching on a vehicle, Patrick can be found on the dirt track circuits throughout the Midwest racing his self-built micro-sprint car.

Jo is British and worked at one of the UK’s most dynamic publishers in London, managing large editorial, sales and marketing teams on some of the world’s biggest motoring and motor racing media brands. Today she oversees Kruse Auction's PR efforts, with responsibility for ensuring that the company and all its events and individual consignments get maximum tailored exposure across global to regional media, in all formats.
Jo is married to a well-known Texas car restorer so she is also heavily involved in the wider classic car community and a familiar face at concours and automotive events.

Abby was born and raised in northeast Indiana and has spent her workplace career leading client services teams and in finance. Her experience in the banking world, along with being married to an entrepreneur, prepared her to be a financial controller, a role she held and continues to support.

Her smiling face and welcoming attitude sets the tone of service to our clients for our team. Her passion is to serve and bring joy and professionalism to our clients.

Abby, along with her husband John and their two children, can be found at our auctions working with clients ensuring we serve and provide exceptional experiences for all of our clients and guests.

A full-time auctioneer since 2003, Michael is a third-generation auctioneer and conducted automobile and memorabilia auctions around the country. The 2016 winner of the noted World Automobile Auctioneer Championship (WAAC), he was also inducted into the Reppert Auction School Hall of Fame in 2025.

Along with being one of Kruse Auctions auctioneers, Michael also manages and engages with our corporate sponsors that are displayed on our website, in our catalogs, and at our live auctions.