Memorial services for 99-year old Ariel Ivarson are Saturday, October 2nd, 2021, at 11:00 at the First Baptist Church of Torrington with Pastor Mary Fabin officiating.
Burial will be in the Torrington cemetery, next to her husband Donald.
In lieu of flowers memorials will go to Evergreen Court, Torrington, WY, or Pine Hills Retirement Home in Hot Springs, SD.
Colyer Funeral Home is helping with the arrangements.
How does one cover 99 years of a person’s life?
Ariel Ivarson was born on March 20, 1922, in Gordon, NE, to Thomas and Ruth (Maddox) Cushing. She moved on to heaven on July 25, 2021, at Regional West hospital in Scottsbluff, NE.
Ariel and her older sister Marge attended country schools, with Ariel eventually graduating from Gordon High School in 1939.
She married her high school sweetheart, Donald G. Ivarson, in 1942 in Los Angeles, CA, where he was employed at the Lockheed Aircraft Plant.
When Donald joined the military and was assigned to fly B-17s in WW II, Ariel took a job as a “Rosie the Riveter” with Lockheed, working on B-17 wing sections.
When Donald was sent to Amarillo, TX, for training, Ariel was a secretary with a chemical company in Dumas, TX. While he was overseas, she returned to Gordon to have her first son, Neal.
After Donald was discharged from the Army Air Corps, they bought a farm unit on the Mirage Flats irrigation project south of Hay Springs, NE. Four more children were born and raised there: Janice, David, John, and Gary.
After 40 years of hard work and many challenges and successes, they sold their farm and moved to Gering, NE, and on to Torrington 12 years later. They had 61 years of marriage before Donald passed.
Next to God, family, and friends, Ariel’s special love was music. She sang her first solo when she was 6 years old. She and her sister Marge sang duets and played the piano in church in their early years.
Ariel continued to sing in many community venues over the years, including in the church choirs, the community chorus, and the Senior Citizen Kitchen Band where she also “played” the washboard.
Ariel was an active member in church and related activities. She bowled, gardened, traveled to many baseball and softball games, golfed, helped at the community playhouse and so many other things.
Ariel is survived by her children: Neal (Emilie) of Santan Valley, AZ; Janice Russell of Custer, SD; David of Chadron, NE; John of Chico, CA; and Gary (April) of San Diego, CA, and sister-in-law Doris Kuhn of Alliance, NE;
She is also survived by her grandchildren: David of Yucca Valley, CA; Jeffrey of Galveston, TX; Jamie, Crystal, and Joshua of Chico, CA; Amy of Custer, SD, and Martin of Casa Grande, AZ. She had 30 surviving great grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.
Ariel was preceded in death by her husband, Donald, her parents, her sister, and two grandsons, and two grand-daughters.
Thanks to the Lord, she lived a long, full life. And she touched so many other people’s lives. Was she perfect? No, but forgiven. She was greatly loved and is greatly missed!