ETHEL IRENE (PEDERSON) ARNDT Ethel Irene (Pederson) Arndt, age 101, passed away on July 27, 2010, at the Cooperstown Nursing Home, Cooperstown North Dakota E. Irene (Pederson) Arndt was born in Pilot Mound Township in Griggs County, North Dakota, on April 9, 1909, to Aasmund and Ingeborg (Emma) (Laatvedt) Pederson. Irene was baptized May 9, 1909 in the West Prairie Lutheran Church, rural Binford, ND. Irene lived most of her childhood years on a farmstead built by her dad near Paradise Hill, Saskatchewan, Canada and came back to the Binford area on the train when she was 15 and lived with her sister Josie and her husband Harold Stalvik. Irene worked in the Binford Hotel, at the Red Willow Lake Resort and as a housekeeper and cook at a private home. Irene married Frederick H. Arndt on September 28, 1927, and they lived and farmed around the Jessie area until they retired to Cooperstown in 1981. Irene was confirmed December 12, 1943 at the West Prairie Lutheran Church, rural Binford, ND along with her oldest daughter Ione. Although Irene only had four years of formal education, Irene and Fred were adamant that their five children completed their education at least through their high school years. Fred passed away in 1986. Irene was a lifetime member of West Prairie Lutheran Church and West Prairie Ladies Aide and was a member of Prairie Land Homemakers Club for many years. Irene had a wonderful sense of humor and loved crocheting, knitting, sewing, quilting, cooking, baking and gardening. Irene is survived by her children Avis Rickford of Cooperstown, Frederick (Fred) (Laurel) Arndt of Fairview, Montana, Connie (Raymond) MacKenzie of Cooperstown, 13 grandchildren, 32 great-grandchildren and 30 great-great-grandchildren. Irene was preceded in death by parents, her husband Fred, her daughter and son-in-law Ione and Stanley Edland, her son Elmo, her son-in-law Glenn Rickford, her granddaughters, Deborah (Rickford) Johnson and Michelle MacKenzie, her brothers – Peder Pederson, Charles Pederson, Roy Pederson and Walter Pederson, her sisters – Annette (Nettie) Halvorson, Josephine (Josie) Stalvik and Agnes Lawson. Funeral Services will be held Monday, August 2, 2010 at 11:00 am in the West Prairie Lutheran Church, rural Binford, ND. Visitation will be held Sunday from 5:00 till 7:00 in the Quam-Plaisted-Cushman Funeral Home and continue one hour before services in the Church. Sunday at 7:00 pm there will be a Sharing of Memories at the Funeral Home. To send a flower arrangement or to plant trees in memory of Irene H. Arndt, please click here to visit our Sympathy Store.