Ardith Rae Twaddle Aiken, 77

Ardith “Ardi” Aiken, 77, died Oct. 17, 2015, after fighting a dignified and courageous battle with cancer over the last eight months.  

As beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside, genteel and soft spoken, Ardi was a class act. She had a strong commitment to family and community and dedicated her life to those endeavors. Ardi brought integrity, discipline and caring to every venture and was as accomplished in her private life as she was in her public life ... whether raising two fine boys, serving as mayor of Great Falls or acting as her own contractor in a recent remodel of her home. She enjoyed entertaining family and friends and reveled in throwing tea parties for her little granddaughters. She delighted in her grandchildren, and fought hard for more time to make lasting memories with them.

Ardi was born in Edmore, a small town on the North Dakota prairie, on April 4, 1938. She and her twin sister Judy were the sixth and seventh of nine children (Three sets of twins!) born to Judith (Syverson) and Arthur Twaddle. Her family later moved to Langdon, North Dakota, where she graduated from Langdon High School in 1956. She went on to get her degree in social work from the University of North Dakota in 1960, and was in the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority.

Ardi began her career as a case worker for the Cascade Department of Public Welfare in Great Falls. She married James E. Aiken in 1961, taught at Franklin Elementary for a few years, and had their first son, Jay, in 1964. Later that year, the family moved to Madison, Wisconsin, where they lived while Jim attended law school. They moved back to Great Falls, where Alex was born in 1967.

Ardi had a children’s television show called “Kiddies’ Corner” during the late ‘60s - early ‘70s, which was a treasured Great Falls children’s program. She was very involved with their group of friends and their Gourmet group, and was also one of those moms who always had a snack waiting for her sons when they came home from school. Jim and Ardi divorced in 1995.

She moved full time to Bigfork a few years later to spend more time with her son Jay and assist him in raising her young grandchildren, Logan and Bailey. One of her greatest joys was to see how they blossomed to become the fine young people they are today. Nine years ago Alex and his wife Annie (Leicht) Aiken moved to the Flathead Valley. Shortly thereafter, Jay married Kari Hatlen and each couple had two children during the last five years. Ardi felt so fortunate to have her entire family close by and she treasured the time she had to spend with them.

Ardi was so modest about her public life even her siblings, with whom she shared a close relationship, did not know the extent of her accomplishments.  During the 1980s, Ardi served two terms as city commissioner and two terms as mayor in Great Falls. She was president and chairwoman of the Montana League of Cities and Towns. She was an active member of the Junior League for 13 years, serving as a director and president in Great Falls and then on the International board of directors. She served 10 years with the United Way of Cascade County’s board, including as chairwoman and as chair of their Fund Drive. She was a founder of the Great Falls Crisis Center and served on the board for six years. She served 10 years with the Neighborhood Housing Service including time as chairwoman, and served on the board of Benefis Healthcare for nine years. Ardi was on the board of the McLaughlin Research Institute for several decades beginning in 1989. She was chairwoman for two terms and raised $8 million through state, federal and private funding. She was employed as the Planned Giving director of the Northern Rocky Mountain Easter Seals/Goodwill from 1990 to 1999. Ardi also served on many other boards: Great Falls YWCA, Red Cross, Great Falls Chamber of Commerce, Montana Board of Crime Control, Bikeways Task Force, Bank of Montana/Wells Fargo Bank, Charles M. Russell Museum and the Governor’s Council on Telecommunications. Most recently, Ardi was on the board of the Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts Foundation. She chaired the fundraising committee and served two terms as president.  

Ardi received the State Business and Professional Women, Woman of Achievement Award, the Great Falls Chamber of Commerce Athena Award, Junior League Sustainer of the Year Award, and Montana League of Cities and Towns Lifetime Service Award. She was much admired and will be greatly missed by all who worked with her. Ardi was truly an outstanding woman!

Ardi is survived by her sons Jay Aiken and Kari, and Alex Aiken and Annie; and her six grandchildren, Jay’s children, Logan (23), Bailey (21), Ilse (5), and Ingrid (2); and Alex’s children, Adeline (4), and Cy (2). She is also survived by seven of her eight siblings, four brothers, Robert and Kathy, Richard and Shirley, Thomas and Cathy, and James and Corrine Twaddle; and three of her four sisters, Margaret “Peggy” Balek, Rita Nicholas, twin sister Judy Gage; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Her sister Barbara passed away a few years ago.

A celebration of her life will be held at 2 p.m. March 12, 2016, at the Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts, in Bigfork.

Memorials may be sent to the family at Buffalo Hills Crematory at www.buffalohillfh.com. In lieu of flowers, we are asking that any donations be made in her name to the Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts. There is a donation button on the BCPAF website (www.bigforktheater.org) or they may be mailed to BCPAF, P.O. Box 1230, Bigfork, MT  59911.

Ardi will be greatly missed.