Marjorie Ielene Vander Aarde

Marjorie Ieleen Hartog Vander Aarde, child of God, loving wife and mother, retired health care executive, passed away at Benefis Eastview Memory Care on Good Friday, April 3, 2026.

Marjorie was born November 12, 1938, in Orange City, Iowa, to John and Gertrude (Hofland) Hartog. She married the love of her life, Robert Leon Vander Aarde, on June 18, 1960, a partnership that continued for 61 years. They met as a result of a theatrical mishap in which he failed to throw a spotlight off of her and she agreed to go out on a date with him on a dare from her friends.

Marjorie embarked on her career in healthcare intending to be a doctor but being barred from attending a meeting for pre-med students because she was female, she took her brother-in-law’s advice to go into nursing. She received a Diploma in Nursing from Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago, Illinois in 1960, a BSN from Montana State University in 1975, an MSN from Texas Women’s University in 1982, and an MS in Health Care Administration from the University of Colorado in 1990. She was a fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Her career included service in religious, private, and public healthcare sectors. She was a surgical nurse at the American Mission Hospital in Kuwait, Arabia, head nurse of the critical care units at Montana Deaconess, Vice President of Human Resources at Montana Deaconess, CEO of Coalinga Regional Medical Center in Coalinga, California, and Bureau Chief of Certification of Quality Assurance at the Montana DHSS.

Marjorie is survived by her daughter, Liesl Vander Aarde; daughter and son-in-law, Tamela and David Scholten; and grandchildren Bridger and Aiyana Scholten. She was preceded in death by her parents; sister, Janice; brother, John Hartog II; and husband, Robert Vander Aarde.

The family suggests that memorial donations be directed to the Alzheimer’s Association or the United Way of Cascade County.