April 1, 2024, in Longmont, Colorado. Ardelle was the youngest of two brothers and seven sisters,
from Sheldahl, Iowa, where she was born on November 16, 1930. Sheldahl is a small town in central
Iowa named for her grandfather, Osmund Sheldahl, who had settled there in 1855. As a girl, Ardelle
was a star student and basketball player. She attended the Cummings Art School and Waldorf Junior
College (now Waldorf University).
She married Richard Louis Gifford in 1951, and moved with him to McKeesport,
Pennsylvania, where “Giff” had taken a job as a foreman with U.S. Steel. From there, they moved
around the world, to Irwin, Pennsylvania; Lawndale, California; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Las
Vegas, Nevada; Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Princeton, New Jersey;
Gaithersburg, Maryland; Dhahran, Jubail, and Yanbu, Saudi Arabia; and in the mid-1980s to
Colorado, where they lived in Boulder, Spring Gulch, Lyons, Estes Park, and, since 2006,
Longmont. Over the years, they moved more than fifty times. Together, they traveled the world,
always ready for -- and looking forward to -- whatever adventures awaited.
Ardelle’s occupation, as she put it recently, was “raising five kids.” She held a variety of jobs
over the years, including air conditioner saleswoman, administrative assistant, Kelly Girl, librarian,
educator, and was also involved with the League of Women Voters. Writing was one of Ardelle’s
great passions, and she was very active in The Longmont Writers Club, where she also served a term
as president. She had several pieces published in The You Belong Collection, an annual anthology of
short stories written by residents of Longmont. One of her proudest accomplishments was being a
co-founder of the Redstone Review, a local publication in Lyons that is still in circulation today, where
she served as an editor and local journalist. While in Saudi Arabia from 1977 to 1985, she worked as
a secretary for Bechtel, which was building large industrial cities in Jubail and Yanbu. She recently
completed a book about her life and travels, From Iowa to Arabia (forthcoming), with editorial help
from Alison Moore, a close friend from Saudi days. She was, as one of her bosses (and longtime
friends) from Saudi fondly remembers her, “strong, plowing confidently ahead with humor.”
Ardelle and Giff also invested in rental property in Longmont. Giff, in particular, loved to
buy and sell property. Their Longmont utility account includes more than twenty properties they
had bought and sold over the years.
Ardelle and Giff had five children, Kristan Allyn, Jonathan Lewis, Peter Andrew, Jennifer
Zoe (Philippe Bryant), and Laura Maureen (Brian Reynolds). She is survived by Jonathan, Jennifer,
and Laura, six grandchildren, nine great grandchildren, and two great-great grandchildren, along with
a host of dear friends and beloved family from around the world. She was preceded in death by Giff
(2006), Kris (2014), and Peter (2021).
Ardelle was a creative thinker, with an unmatched ability to come up with ingenious
solutions that no one else would ever think of. Her wisdom, compassion, humor, and generous
spirit forged genuine, enduring friendships that bridged generational and cultural divides. She was a
lifelong learner and teacher, genuinely curious, and enjoyed discussing world religions, history,
current events, the Bible, and whatever book she happened to be reading at the time.
Her spirit of exploration is embodied in this stanza from Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “Travel”:
My heart is warm with the friends I make,
And better friends I'll not be knowing;
Yet there isn't a train I wouldn't take,
No matter where it's going.
A celebration of her life will be announced through Ahlberg Funeral Chapel in Longmont.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Sheldahl Lutheran Church (Wikipedia entry
here), built by her grandfather and on the National Register of Historic Places and the Historic
American Building Survey. Donations payable to the Osmund and Anna Sheldahl Memorial Society
may be sent care of Ann Curphey, Treasurer, 13728 NW 16th St., Slater, IA 5024
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