Eldrid Arntzen

Ann Eldrid Skjold Arntzen 15 Feb 1935 – 19 Oct 2023

Ann Eldrid Skjold Arntzen, age 88, passed away peacefully in Pompton Plains, New Jersey on Thursday October 19th, 2023. She was pre-deceased by her beloved husband Norman Arntzen and her daughter Audrey Elisabeth Demas. Eldrid is survived by her sons John Ole Arntzen (Renee) and Kenneth Norman Arntzen (Debbie), son-in-law Donald Demas (Amy), eight grandchildren (Jessica, Martha, Jacquelyn, Allyson, Erik, Paige, Hannah, and Aaron), and five great-grandchildren (Emma, Cameron, Anneke, Lily and Olivia).

Eldrid was born on 15 February 1935 in Brooklyn, NY to Norwegian immigrant parents Jacob and Olga Levinsen Skjold. Eldrid and her older brother Richard Skjold (deceased) grew up in the Norwegian American section of Bay Ridge. She attended the all-girls Bay Ridge High School, where she belonged to the Norwegian Club, took classes in the Norwegian Language, and played violin in the school orchestra. She also participated in church music and sang in the church choir.

During her youth, Eldrid enjoyed summers with her family at their bungalow in Mastic Beach, NY. There Eldrid developed a love of the ocean and learned about boating from her father who was the Chief Engineer on a tugboat in New York harbor.

Eldrid married her husband Norman Arntzen in October 1956 at Zion Lutheran Church on Fourth Avenue. Eldrid and Norman’s three children were all born in Brooklyn. When Norman’s employer relocated its corporate offices from Manhattan in 1960, the family moved to Windsor, Connecticut. There, Eldrid and Norman became Charter Members of the new Sons of Norway Hartford Lodge #474 in 1964. Eldrid served as Lodge Secretary and later was the director of the Viking Chorus. She enjoyed playing violin in the Hartford Conservatory Orchestra and singing and directing the choir for many years at Christ The King Lutheran Church in Windsor.

Eldrid was a wonderful Christian role model to all who came into contact with her. She credited her talent to the Lord and was thankful for all of the blessings that she received during her lifetime. She stressed hard work, enthusiasm for every task, making every opportunity count, and love and compassion for others, especially those less fortunate among us.

In 1967, Eldrid graduated as a Licensed Practical Nurse at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford, CT. She worked for several years as a personal nurse in private homes and eventually took a position as a nurse on the staff at the Loomis-Chaffee School’s infirmary in Windsor, CT, where she served for many years.

In 1998, Eldrid and Norman moved from Windsor to Watertown, CT to be near Audrey, their son-in-law Don Demas, and their children, Martha and Paige. When Audrey was diagnosed with cancer, and after she passed away in 2000, Eldrid and Norman stepped in to help Don bringing up the girls. For many years, they provided transportation, babysitting, cooking, homework help, love, encouragement, and support to Don, Martha and Paige. In 2012, Eldrid and Norman moved to the Cedar Crest retirement community in Pompton Plains, NJ.

Always a lover of art, Eldrid began studying landscape painting at the age of 10 and continued to study and paint, in many different mediums, throughout her life. Eldrid taught herself basic Norwegian Rosemaling (a traditional decorative folk art) in the early 1960’s, eventually joining the New England Rosemalers Society. She traveled to Norway, and to the Norwegian American Museum, “Vesterheim,” in Decorah, Iowa, to study Rosemaling with the best artists in the world.

Eldrid’s love of Rosemaling and her Norwegian heritage, led her to demonstrate and teach all over the US, from Maine to Alaska, and on several cruise ships. Eldrid’s craftsmanship and artistic excellence was recognized when she was selected as one of two American Rosemalers invited to travel to the Utvandrer Museum in Hamar, Norway, to demonstrate Rosemaling along with Norwegian masters Nils Ellingsgaard and Sigmund Aarseth.

She was an expert in many of the different regional styles of Rosemaling. In addition to teaching at Vesterheim’s Haandverkskole in Iowa, Eldrid was a regular teacher at Fletcher Farm School in Vermont, at the Sons of Norway’s Land of the Vikings Recreation and Cultural Center in Pennsylvania, and, in recent years, at the Koinonia Retreat in Highland Lake, New York.

Eldrid achieved Rosemaling’s highest honors nationally. In 1987, she was awarded the Gold Medal for Rosemaling at Vesterheim. She was a Master Traditional Artist, teaching and mentoring students as part of the Southern New England Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program and the National Endowment for the Arts. In 1994, she was named a “Living Legend: Connecticut Master Traditional Artist” by the State of Connecticut.

In 2005, Eldrid received her most prized award when she was selected as a National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellow in Washington, DC for her role in preserving and promoting the traditional art of Norwegian Rosemaling. This honor is the most prestigious award given to folk and traditional artists in the United States.

Eldrid continued to enjoy teaching Rosemaling until 2016, when her health limited her ability to travel. Eldrid worked hard to pass on an optimistic legacy of Christian love, Norwegian art and culture, and American exceptionalism to all with whom she came into contact. She will be missed dearly.

A memorial service celebrating Eldrid's life will take place at 2:00 PM Sunday 10 December 2023 in the Interfaith Chapel at Cedar Crest.

Cedar Crest Interfaith Chapel

1 Cedar Crest Drive

Pompton Plains, NJ 07444

Donations may be made in Eldrid’s honor to the Vesterheim Annual Fund at the following link: https://vesterheim.org/join-give/

Or, by check via mail to:

Vesterheim

520 W. Water St.

Decorah, Iowa 52101