Ardis Aalborg was born to Lee and Winifred Aalborg on August 18, 1921 in Viborg, South Dakota. Her parents were farmers and Ardis grew up among the alfalfa, corn, and barley fields. She attended elementary school and a year or two of high school in Hurley, South Dakota. Winter weather was a frequent hazard, with drifts sometimes as high as the tops of the telephone poles. As a result of such weather, school once closed for an entire month.
As was characteristic of the times, money was scarce. On one occasion, Ardis's aunt, Esther, gave her the considerable sum of $10 so that she could have ten piano lessons. Ardis rode Jack the horse two miles each way to each of those ten lessons and learned to play the piano, a skill she enjoyed through the rest of her life.
In a defining moment of her life, Ardis was baptized as a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in South Dakota's Swan Lake in 1935.
When Ardis was 15, her parents purchased an orchard on the mesa above Palisade, Colorado, one with 4,000 peach trees and 100 apricot trees. Amidst the busy life of the orchard and the rhythm of the harvest, she graduated from high school in Palisade in 1939, a year after her brother Dale. Their father, Lee, was able to arrange the speaker for each of their graduation exercises-Elders R. R. Beitz and V. G. Anderson, successive presidents of the Colorado Conference of Seventh-day Adventist.
Three years after graduating from high school, at the age of 22, Ardis moved here to Lincoln, Nebraska, a move that was permanent, and joyfully so. She attended Union College for two years and began working as dental assistant to her uncle, Dr. Frank Lopp, a role she filled for 44 years. Her duties at the dental office on the corner of Calvert and 48th were not narrowly defined. She did serve as the dental assistant. A small, yellowed document reads: “This is to certify that Miss Ardis Aalborg of . . . Lincoln, NE is a member of the Nebraska Dental Assistants Association in good standing for the year 1944.” However, in addition to being the dental assistant, she mowed the grass, trimmed the bushes, made all the appointments, did all the office work, helped with the lab work, took the X-Rays and did the office janitorial work.
For much of her long tenure in Lincoln, Ardis lived in a rented apartment in Mrs. Elthorpe's house on Lowell Street. She enjoyed entertaining Union College students, who would frequently gather around her small table and enjoy her good food. She loved Nebraska. And to love Nebraska is to love football. She was a died-deep-red-in-the-wool Cornhuskers fan. And she loved NASCAR racing. And she loved to eat out. The Village Inn was her favorite restaurant, edging out the ever popular Valentino's though not by much.
Family was exceptionally important to Ardis. She treasured her brothers, their wives, their children, and their children's children. Birthdays and anniversaries were always remembered. Visits were high moments of celebration. News of the latest event or accomplishment was always greeted with joy and affirmation. She was a one-person fan club for us all. We suspect that you, her friends here in Lincoln, tired of hearing about us.
And, in turn, we heard a lot about you. Ardis was a third generation Seventh-day Adventist. To say that her church and faith were important to her is to traffic in understatement. She was for decades a dedicated member of the College View Seventh-day Adventist Church. She found friendship and wonderful, loyal friends here. Two who have especially come to her aid in these last difficult months come to mind- Phyllis Weygandt and Shirley Welch. For some, distributing Sabbath School literature to the various departments might be drudgery. For Ardis, it was sacrament. She loved participating in the life of this congregation and of Union College. She enjoyed occasionally substituting-one Ardis for another-in the church office. And she enjoyed taking calls for the latest Women in Touch event. Church services, sermons, evangelistic events, concerts and even funerals were not sideshows. They were the stuff of life. (Incidentally, there is a reason there is no slide show today. It is because of Ardis's terse dictum: “No slideshow. They're boring.”)
There is an interesting mathematical symmetry to Ardis's life: She lived 22 years prior to the move to Lincoln; She lived in Lincoln and was a member of the College View Church for 66 years; Of those 66 years, she worked for 44 years and lived in happy retirement for an additional 22 years. She died this past Monday at 88 years of age.
Ardis treasured her life here in Lincoln. For her, simple pleasures, common joys, and routine life were none of those things. They were wondrous, rare and to be treasured. When she was diagnosed with bi-lateral lung cancer in January of this year, it soon became clear that she wished to live. She was determined to fight. Life and its joys are valuable. It is appropriate to cling to them, to resist fiercely the idea of letting them go.
In the face of her dogged battle for life, the words of John Donne's famous poem come to mind:
DEATH be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not so, . . .
One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.
On that glad day of the Resurrection-the death day of death-I suspect that no one will be more elated at the prospect of eternal life, no one more grateful to her Savior, than Ardis Aalborg. She would wish for each of us to join her in the rapturous joy of that day. Through the mercy and grace of her Savior Jesus Christ, may it be so.
-- John McVay (October 28, 2009)
As was characteristic of the times, money was scarce. On one occasion, Ardis's aunt, Esther, gave her the considerable sum of $10 so that she could have ten piano lessons. Ardis rode Jack the horse two miles each way to each of those ten lessons and learned to play the piano, a skill she enjoyed through the rest of her life.
In a defining moment of her life, Ardis was baptized as a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in South Dakota's Swan Lake in 1935.
When Ardis was 15, her parents purchased an orchard on the mesa above Palisade, Colorado, one with 4,000 peach trees and 100 apricot trees. Amidst the busy life of the orchard and the rhythm of the harvest, she graduated from high school in Palisade in 1939, a year after her brother Dale. Their father, Lee, was able to arrange the speaker for each of their graduation exercises-Elders R. R. Beitz and V. G. Anderson, successive presidents of the Colorado Conference of Seventh-day Adventist.
Three years after graduating from high school, at the age of 22, Ardis moved here to Lincoln, Nebraska, a move that was permanent, and joyfully so. She attended Union College for two years and began working as dental assistant to her uncle, Dr. Frank Lopp, a role she filled for 44 years. Her duties at the dental office on the corner of Calvert and 48th were not narrowly defined. She did serve as the dental assistant. A small, yellowed document reads: “This is to certify that Miss Ardis Aalborg of . . . Lincoln, NE is a member of the Nebraska Dental Assistants Association in good standing for the year 1944.” However, in addition to being the dental assistant, she mowed the grass, trimmed the bushes, made all the appointments, did all the office work, helped with the lab work, took the X-Rays and did the office janitorial work.
For much of her long tenure in Lincoln, Ardis lived in a rented apartment in Mrs. Elthorpe's house on Lowell Street. She enjoyed entertaining Union College students, who would frequently gather around her small table and enjoy her good food. She loved Nebraska. And to love Nebraska is to love football. She was a died-deep-red-in-the-wool Cornhuskers fan. And she loved NASCAR racing. And she loved to eat out. The Village Inn was her favorite restaurant, edging out the ever popular Valentino's though not by much.
Family was exceptionally important to Ardis. She treasured her brothers, their wives, their children, and their children's children. Birthdays and anniversaries were always remembered. Visits were high moments of celebration. News of the latest event or accomplishment was always greeted with joy and affirmation. She was a one-person fan club for us all. We suspect that you, her friends here in Lincoln, tired of hearing about us.
And, in turn, we heard a lot about you. Ardis was a third generation Seventh-day Adventist. To say that her church and faith were important to her is to traffic in understatement. She was for decades a dedicated member of the College View Seventh-day Adventist Church. She found friendship and wonderful, loyal friends here. Two who have especially come to her aid in these last difficult months come to mind- Phyllis Weygandt and Shirley Welch. For some, distributing Sabbath School literature to the various departments might be drudgery. For Ardis, it was sacrament. She loved participating in the life of this congregation and of Union College. She enjoyed occasionally substituting-one Ardis for another-in the church office. And she enjoyed taking calls for the latest Women in Touch event. Church services, sermons, evangelistic events, concerts and even funerals were not sideshows. They were the stuff of life. (Incidentally, there is a reason there is no slide show today. It is because of Ardis's terse dictum: “No slideshow. They're boring.”)
There is an interesting mathematical symmetry to Ardis's life: She lived 22 years prior to the move to Lincoln; She lived in Lincoln and was a member of the College View Church for 66 years; Of those 66 years, she worked for 44 years and lived in happy retirement for an additional 22 years. She died this past Monday at 88 years of age.
Ardis treasured her life here in Lincoln. For her, simple pleasures, common joys, and routine life were none of those things. They were wondrous, rare and to be treasured. When she was diagnosed with bi-lateral lung cancer in January of this year, it soon became clear that she wished to live. She was determined to fight. Life and its joys are valuable. It is appropriate to cling to them, to resist fiercely the idea of letting them go.
In the face of her dogged battle for life, the words of John Donne's famous poem come to mind:
DEATH be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not so, . . .
One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.
On that glad day of the Resurrection-the death day of death-I suspect that no one will be more elated at the prospect of eternal life, no one more grateful to her Savior, than Ardis Aalborg. She would wish for each of us to join her in the rapturous joy of that day. Through the mercy and grace of her Savior Jesus Christ, may it be so.
-- John McVay (October 28, 2009)
Ardis Aalborg was born to Lee and Winifred Aalborg on August 18, 1921 in Viborg, South Dakota. Her parents were farmers and Ardis grew up among the alfalfa, corn, and barley fields. She attended elementary school and a year or two of high school in Hurley, South Dakota. Winter weather was a frequent hazard, with drifts sometimes as high as the tops of the telephone poles. As a result of such weather, school once closed for an entire month.
As was characteristic of the times, money was scarce. On one occasion, Ardis's aunt, Esther, gave her the considerable sum of $10 so that she could have ten piano lessons. Ardis rode Jack the horse two miles each way to each of those ten lessons and learned to play the piano, a skill she enjoyed through the rest of her life.
In a defining moment of her life, Ardis was baptized as a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in South Dakota's Swan Lake in 1935.
When Ardis was 15, her parents purchased an orchard on the mesa above Palisade, Colorado, one with 4,000 peach trees and 100 apricot trees. Amidst the busy life of the orchard and the rhythm of the harvest, she graduated from high school in Palisade in 1939, a year after her brother Dale. Their father, Lee, was able to arrange the speaker for each of their graduation exercises-Elders R. R. Beitz and V. G. Anderson, successive presidents of the Colorado Conference of Seventh-day Adventist.
Three years after graduating from high school, at the age of 22, Ardis moved here to Lincoln, Nebraska, a move that was permanent, and joyfully so. She attended Union College for two years and began working as dental assistant to her uncle, Dr. Frank Lopp, a role she filled for 44 years. Her duties at the dental office on the corner of Calvert and 48th were not narrowly defined. She did serve as the dental assistant. A small, yellowed document reads: “This is to certify that Miss Ardis Aalborg of . . . Lincoln, NE is a member of the Nebraska Dental Assistants Association in good standing for the year 1944.” However, in addition to being the dental assistant, she mowed the grass, trimmed the bushes, made all the appointments, did all the office work, helped with the lab work, took the X-Rays and did the office janitorial work.
For much of her long tenure in Lincoln, Ardis lived in a rented apartment in Mrs. Elthorpe's house on Lowell Street. She enjoyed entertaining Union College students, who would frequently gather around her small table and enjoy her good food. She loved Nebraska. And to love Nebraska is to love football. She was a died-deep-red-in-the-wool Cornhuskers fan. And she loved NASCAR racing. And she loved to eat out. The Village Inn was her favorite restaurant, edging out the ever popular Valentino's though not by much.
Family was exceptionally important to Ardis. She treasured her brothers, their wives, their children, and their children's children. Birthdays and anniversaries were always remembered. Visits were high moments of celebration. News of the latest event or accomplishment was always greeted with joy and affirmation. She was a one-person fan club for us all. We suspect that you, her friends here in Lincoln, tired of hearing about us.
And, in turn, we heard a lot about you. Ardis was a third generation Seventh-day Adventist. To say that her church and faith were important to her is to traffic in understatement. She was for decades a dedicated member of the College View Seventh-day Adventist Church. She found friendship and wonderful, loyal friends here. Two who have especially come to her aid in these last difficult months come to mind- Phyllis Weygandt and Shirley Welch. For some, distributing Sabbath School literature to the various departments might be drudgery. For Ardis, it was sacrament. She loved participating in the life of this congregation and of Union College. She enjoyed occasionally substituting-one Ardis for another-in the church office. And she enjoyed taking calls for the latest Women in Touch event. Church services, sermons, evangelistic events, concerts and even funerals were not sideshows. They were the stuff of life. (Incidentally, there is a reason there is no slide show today. It is because of Ardis's terse dictum: “No slideshow. They're boring.”)
There is an interesting mathematical symmetry to Ardis's life: She lived 22 years prior to the move to Lincoln; She lived in Lincoln and was a member of the College View Church for 66 years; Of those 66 years, she worked for 44 years and lived in happy retirement for an additional 22 years. She died this past Monday at 88 years of age.
Ardis treasured her life here in Lincoln. For her, simple pleasures, common joys, and routine life were none of those things. They were wondrous, rare and to be treasured. When she was diagnosed with bi-lateral lung cancer in January of this year, it soon became clear that she wished to live. She was determined to fight. Life and its joys are valuable. It is appropriate to cling to them, to resist fiercely the idea of letting them go.
In the face of her dogged battle for life, the words of John Donne's famous poem come to mind:
DEATH be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not so, . . .
One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.
On that glad day of the Resurrection-the death day of death-I suspect that no one will be more elated at the prospect of eternal life, no one more grateful to her Savior, than Ardis Aalborg. She would wish for each of us to join her in the rapturous joy of that day. Through the mercy and grace of her Savior Jesus Christ, may it be so.
-- John McVay (October 28, 2009)
As was characteristic of the times, money was scarce. On one occasion, Ardis's aunt, Esther, gave her the considerable sum of $10 so that she could have ten piano lessons. Ardis rode Jack the horse two miles each way to each of those ten lessons and learned to play the piano, a skill she enjoyed through the rest of her life.
In a defining moment of her life, Ardis was baptized as a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in South Dakota's Swan Lake in 1935.
When Ardis was 15, her parents purchased an orchard on the mesa above Palisade, Colorado, one with 4,000 peach trees and 100 apricot trees. Amidst the busy life of the orchard and the rhythm of the harvest, she graduated from high school in Palisade in 1939, a year after her brother Dale. Their father, Lee, was able to arrange the speaker for each of their graduation exercises-Elders R. R. Beitz and V. G. Anderson, successive presidents of the Colorado Conference of Seventh-day Adventist.
Three years after graduating from high school, at the age of 22, Ardis moved here to Lincoln, Nebraska, a move that was permanent, and joyfully so. She attended Union College for two years and began working as dental assistant to her uncle, Dr. Frank Lopp, a role she filled for 44 years. Her duties at the dental office on the corner of Calvert and 48th were not narrowly defined. She did serve as the dental assistant. A small, yellowed document reads: “This is to certify that Miss Ardis Aalborg of . . . Lincoln, NE is a member of the Nebraska Dental Assistants Association in good standing for the year 1944.” However, in addition to being the dental assistant, she mowed the grass, trimmed the bushes, made all the appointments, did all the office work, helped with the lab work, took the X-Rays and did the office janitorial work.
For much of her long tenure in Lincoln, Ardis lived in a rented apartment in Mrs. Elthorpe's house on Lowell Street. She enjoyed entertaining Union College students, who would frequently gather around her small table and enjoy her good food. She loved Nebraska. And to love Nebraska is to love football. She was a died-deep-red-in-the-wool Cornhuskers fan. And she loved NASCAR racing. And she loved to eat out. The Village Inn was her favorite restaurant, edging out the ever popular Valentino's though not by much.
Family was exceptionally important to Ardis. She treasured her brothers, their wives, their children, and their children's children. Birthdays and anniversaries were always remembered. Visits were high moments of celebration. News of the latest event or accomplishment was always greeted with joy and affirmation. She was a one-person fan club for us all. We suspect that you, her friends here in Lincoln, tired of hearing about us.
And, in turn, we heard a lot about you. Ardis was a third generation Seventh-day Adventist. To say that her church and faith were important to her is to traffic in understatement. She was for decades a dedicated member of the College View Seventh-day Adventist Church. She found friendship and wonderful, loyal friends here. Two who have especially come to her aid in these last difficult months come to mind- Phyllis Weygandt and Shirley Welch. For some, distributing Sabbath School literature to the various departments might be drudgery. For Ardis, it was sacrament. She loved participating in the life of this congregation and of Union College. She enjoyed occasionally substituting-one Ardis for another-in the church office. And she enjoyed taking calls for the latest Women in Touch event. Church services, sermons, evangelistic events, concerts and even funerals were not sideshows. They were the stuff of life. (Incidentally, there is a reason there is no slide show today. It is because of Ardis's terse dictum: “No slideshow. They're boring.”)
There is an interesting mathematical symmetry to Ardis's life: She lived 22 years prior to the move to Lincoln; She lived in Lincoln and was a member of the College View Church for 66 years; Of those 66 years, she worked for 44 years and lived in happy retirement for an additional 22 years. She died this past Monday at 88 years of age.
Ardis treasured her life here in Lincoln. For her, simple pleasures, common joys, and routine life were none of those things. They were wondrous, rare and to be treasured. When she was diagnosed with bi-lateral lung cancer in January of this year, it soon became clear that she wished to live. She was determined to fight. Life and its joys are valuable. It is appropriate to cling to them, to resist fiercely the idea of letting them go.
In the face of her dogged battle for life, the words of John Donne's famous poem come to mind:
DEATH be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not so, . . .
One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.
On that glad day of the Resurrection-the death day of death-I suspect that no one will be more elated at the prospect of eternal life, no one more grateful to her Savior, than Ardis Aalborg. She would wish for each of us to join her in the rapturous joy of that day. Through the mercy and grace of her Savior Jesus Christ, may it be so.
-- John McVay (October 28, 2009)
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