ARDEN BARNES

Arden Barnes, of Ranier, Minnesota, passed away Thursday, May 22, 2014.
Arden was born in International Falls, MN on Nov. 22, 1928, to John and Gina (Finstad) Erickson.
Arden graduated from Falls High School in 1946 and enrolled in pre-nursing at Duluth State Teachers College. In 1949 she transferred to St. Scholastica and graduated in February, 1951, as a Registered Nurse.
In September, 1951, Arden married Ed Barnes. They moved to Alaska where Ed worked for the University of Alaska. They were divorced in 1962.
Arden owned and operated Arden’s Village Store in Ranier from 1962 to 1974. Beginning the summer of 1962, Arden spent the following eight summers living in the Inuit Village of Povungnituk, Quebec, on the east coast of Hudson Bay.
From 1967 to 1969 she attended anesthesia school at St. Mary’s in Duluth and graduated as a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist. After working a short time in Littlefork and Bagley, she moved to Thief River Falls and retired from the Thief River Hospital after 24 years as Chief Anesthetist.
While in Bagley, Arden bought a 300 acre farm, 100 cows and a full line of farm machinery and ran the farm until 2010. When not at the farm, her passion was being on Rainy Lake and spending time at her cabin in Alexandria Bay. Arden was a certified scuba diver and was the first woman on Rainy Lake to acquire a United States Coast Guard Captain’s License.
Arden is survived by her first cousins: Joanne Finstad Good of Ranier, MN and New York, NY, Connie Finstad of New York, NY, Dorothy Erickson Anderson of Ranier, MN, and Louise (Dwayne) Carlberg of Baudette, MN.
In Arden’s words: “It has been a great life! I’ve lived every day as if there were no tomorrow. We like to think we’ve made a difference somewhere along the line—that we have made enough right choices so as to have a positive effect by motivating the meaningful people in our life—that maybe something you said or did helped someone attain a goal, improve their value system, be happier and feel that life was good and worth the effort. We must have the capacity to love and be loved. Keep it simple, cut out the sugar, talk to the trees and hug your best friend!”
In celebration of Arden’s life, an open house will be held Sunday, Aug. 24, 2014 from 1-4 p.m. at the Ranier Community Building.