Kyle Rusk

Hi, my name is Erica Mauch, my brother in-law Kyle Rusk passed away on July 6th. He left behind his wife and girls. As you can only imagine, this family is going through a lot right now. Please consider giving to this family in their time of need. All funds raised will go first go towards funeral expenses and then to the family.

Here is Kyle’s story

Kyle Allen Rusk, 53 of Denver, Iowa, passed away on July 6, 2022, at his home.

Kyle was born on June 29, 1969, in Maquoketa, Iowa, the son of Lyle Rusk and Joanne Harkins. He graduated from Cedar Rapids Kennedy High School in 1987 and graduated from William Penn University in Oskaloosa with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business. He entered the Iowa National Guard in 2005 and was honorably discharged in February of 2022. He was united in marriage to Amanda Volker on October 26, 2013, in Des Moines, Iowa.

Kyle’s first-born daughter, Alexa, was always his princess and he was proud of the person she is and what a great mother she is. Kyle was known to show up at her house with pockets filled with Starburst to put the kids on a sugar high and always got a kick out of that. Kyle’s daughter, Hailey, was lovingly referred to as his Angel. Kyle would always ask Alexa and Hailey if they had caught him any aliens today to get conversations started when they were younger. This became an ongoing conversation even into their adulthood. He served in Operation Enduring Freedom, where Alyssa Milano kept him company in the form of a photo of her taped to his desk. Upon his return he moved to Denver, Iowa, where he met his future wife by asking her if he could wash her car (a pick-up line his father gave him). This then started the longest argument probably known to man about if his couch was blue or green. He adopted his daughter, Aveinda, later that year. He was insanely proud of her and always bragged about how smart and musically talented she is. He had a very close relationship with his step-daughter, Sky, and they often times stayed up extremely late chatting about anything and everything (even fashion). In April of 2014 he and his wife lost an unborn child. In July of 2014 Kyle got the shock of his life when it was confirmed his wife was right and they were in fact having twins, a fact she never let him forget. Fayedrah was always daddy’s girl and often they would conspire together to pull pranks on other family members. Lylah was his little dictator, a name she hated, but he meant it in the most loving way, and he always said someday she will rule the world. He held weekly party nights for him and the girls when Amanda had to work. He never liked to see anyone cry and would often go to extremes to “fix it”, such as the time he saw Sky and her friend crying in the driveway and he came out in a clown mask. Kyle always tucked in the twins, and even on occasion Aveinda, like mermaids at night, a fond memory that will always be cherished. Kyle loved all his girls and always wanted the best for them. He was a huge animal lover and had 4 dogs, Dexter, Sophia, Maxine, and Maggie. His favorite animal was ferrets. He ended up having 7 and loved every second of the time he spent with them and the joy Farrah, Goose, Natasha, Mayo, Rouge, Aurora, and Crescent gave him. Kyle was in the early stages of writing a children’s book about a father visiting his children in their dreams to help them through life and had talks with Alexa about illustrating it, with of course ferrets as the characters. Kyle was very fond of jazz music and that love of music was something all in the family were able to connect with. Kyle also was known for his love of AM radio, podcast about American History, horror movies, and endless “useless knowledge”, as he referred to it, which he loved to talk about with his family. He enjoyed joking as often as possible and loved that the family would often refer to “Rusk” like habits as being Danger-Rusk and Aveinda’s family slogan of “Why risk it when you can Rusk it.” He was a huge Hawkeye fan, and thoroughly enjoyed analyzing the games with Bernita and Beau. Kaela always made him laugh no matter what was going on. Kyle and Shelia held each other’s childhood secrets. He had a deep level of respect for his brother Riley and his service record, of which they shared a connection. Bernita was truly a very special person to him and after the passing of his own parents never missed a step and was always there for him. After having 6 daughters he always said his mother, Joanne, was laughing at him from Heaven for having all girls. He was a member of the Acker-Matthias American Legion Post #653 in Denver.

Kyle is survived by his wife, Amanda Rusk of Denver; his children, Alexa (Patrick) Hines of Colo; Hailey Rusk of Johnston; Sky Lyon-Volker-Betts, Aveinda Rusk, Fayedrah Rusk, and Lylah Rusk, all of Denver; his grandchildren, Aliza, Brantley, Maddison, Emery, Riley and Alice; his mother, Bernita (Michael) Rusk-Fetzer of Cedar Rapids; a brother, Riley Wunder of Indianapolis, Indiana; a sister, Sheila Wunder of Rockford; a brother, Beau (Jessica) Rusk of Omaha and a sister, Kaela Rusk of Omaha, Nebraska; his father and mother-in-law, Mark and Jo Ann Volker of Fredericksburg; a sister-in-law, Erica (Jason) Mauch of Jefferson, South Dakota; and two brothers-in-law, Adam (Corissa) Volker of Hudson and Joshua Volker of Cedar Rapids; his uncle and aunt, Richard and Barbara Harkins of Champaign, Illinois; and several nieces, nephews and cousins.

Kyle is proceeded in death by his mother, Joanne Harkins, his father Lyle Rusk, and his child, Baby Rusk.

Visitation will be held on Monday from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Kaiser-Corson Funeral Home in Denver followed by a time of sharing at 7:00 p.m. led by Chaplain Tim Hadley of the Iowa National Guard. The Acker-Matthias American Legion Post #653 of Denver along with the Iowa National Guard will conduct military honors after the time of sharing.