Obituary of Ardyce Mae Arp

Ardyce Mae (Ediger) Arp, 88, passed away peacefully on Friday, February 23, 2024 at home with her family at her side. Ardyce was born July 11, 1935 on the Ediger Family farm near Henderson, Nebraska to Chris and Esther (Hofmann) Ediger. Her family gave her strong faith and work values.

Her father, Chris, passed away when she was two and her mother worked numerous jobs in Henderson to support the two of them. Ardyce always said, although they had little, she never felt poor; they were blessed with family and community support. She was a bit of a tomboy and loved climbing trees. When Ardyce was 11, her mother married Bill Hahle, a widowed farmer with 6 children and they moved to the farm 5 ½ miles out of town. She said gaining 6 brothers and sisters was a blessing to her. Her junior and senior year she lived with her grandma in Sutton, Nebraska to get more science, physics and chemistry to prepare her for college and nursing. In Sutton she met and started to date Vernon Arp, who she would later marry, but first she had to get educated. She attended Midland College for two years and went to Immanuel School of Nursing in Omaha, Nebraska, graduating in 1958. Ardyce married Vern on June 14, 1958 in Lincoln, Nebraska and in the fall they moved to Boise. She said Vern was always faithful, loving and loyal; someone she could always count on. They joined Immanuel Lutheran Church in 1958. Ardyce worked nights on the medical floor at St Alphonsus and then became a nursing instructor at St Alphonsus School of Nursing.

Ardyce and Vern were blessed with two beautiful daughters, Renée and Karen, two wonderful sons-in-law, Brad and Gus, and three amazing grandsons, Roshawn, Riley and Randy. Ardyce said her greatest legacy will be her children; no better gift to give the world. Ardyce took time off to raise her girls and then recertified and went back to nursing. She retired from the Breast Cancer Detection Center in 1998 to help raise her grandson, Roshawn. Ardyce said she was an “obsolete nurse”, but she was still amazingly savvy when it came to understanding the medical challenges that came with aging. She was a wonderful, sweet, caring wife, mother, nana and friend. She touched many lives, was so kind to everyone and always made people feel welcome and included. She was a good and faithful servant and heaven has gained another amazing angel and as she said at the end of her life, “see you in heaven.”

She was preceded in death by her parents, Esther and Chris, her stepfather, Bill and her siblings Wilma, Lilah, Robert and Ilene. She is survived by her husband of 65 years, Vern; her daughters, Renée (Brad) Bergquist and Karen (Gus) Fitzpatrick; three grandchildren, Roshawn Walters, Riley Fitzpatrick and Randy Perkins; and siblings Bill Jr. (Sondra) Hahle and Dennis (Jeanie) Hahle and numerous nieces and nephews.

Her family would like to thank Dr. Aaron Fereday and Dr. Amanda Hall at St Lukes Kidney and Hypertension; and Amanda and all the other angels at Fresenius Kidney Care for taking such good care of her over the years. Thank you, also, to all our friends and family for their thoughts and prayers.

There will be a memorial service at Immanuel Lutheran Church on Saturday, March 23, 2024 (the anniversary of Ardyce and Vern’s first date) at 10:30 am.  Memorials may be made in Ardyce’s name to Immanuel Lutheran Church or a charity of your choice.