Bernarda Johanna (Kruisselbrink) Aarden died peacefully at age 92 on Friday, April 4, 2026, after a long and happy life. Known as Arda to her friends, she was born in Winterswijk, a small town in the Eastern Netherlands where she grew up with her late sisters, Nettie, Willie, and Marianna, experiencing World War II as a young child.

Later, on a trip to Amsterdam, she met her late husband Rudy Aarden. She would jokingly relay the story of how they met: Rudy, an experienced cyclist, encouraged her to hop on the crossbar of his bike, sitting sidesaddle, for a ride. Though she'd never ridden a bike like that, she decided to accept the offer. As Rudy started pedaling, Arda ran alongside and promptly jumped right over the crossbar, landing flat on the sidewalk! She would joke about falling off the bike, but falling in love. With her sisters' aid, she and Rudy began secretly exchanging notes. When her mother found out, she forbade Arda from seeing Rudy.

That quickly backfired - Arda moved to Amsterdam as soon as she was able and became a telephone operator, living in a women's boarding house and forming many lasting friendships. She and Rudy quickly married, then moved to Canada and later to Ashland, Massachusetts, making many friends wherever they went. A quick study, Arda learned French and English and eventually became a librarian at Marian High School in Framingham.

Throughout her life, Arda was classy and polite, had a great sense of humor, loved to travel, and play Scrabble. Though she suffered from memory loss later in life, she always had some quick jokes, letting folks know, "You aren't much if you aren't Dutch" with a smile and a laugh.

Arda passed many of her best qualities on to her family: daughter Pasca Ferwerda and her husband Tim; sons Rano Aarden, Mark Aarden and his wife Sarah, Kion Aarden and his wife Kim; grandchildren Jennifer LaValley, Christina and Joel Ferwerda, Jayson, Shauna and Rachael Aarden, and Shelby and Dana Aarden, plus seven great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.

A Funeral Service will be celebrated Friday April 17th at 11:00am in the Chapel of the Matarese Funeral Home, 325 Main St. Ashland, MA with urn burial to follow in Wildwood Cemetery in Ashland.