Denver "Denny" Lucile Arnold was born July 2, 1921 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the eldest child of Albert W. and Olive Lucile Babcock Arnold. She passed away to be with her Lord on March 23, 2010 at the Georgian House in Lakewood, WA after a long and adventuresome time on earth. Denver was a faithful friend and a devoted & loving mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.

Graveside services will be Monday, April 5, 2010 at 10:30 a.m. at the Congregational Cemetery in Athol, South Dakota. Reverend Brian Wasmoen will officiate.

Her first twenty-two years were spent in Minneapolis, MN excepting two brief periods during her elementary years in Athol, South Dakota with her maternal grandmother Odessa Babcock and great-grandmother Nancy Smith Hess. She graduated from South High School in Minneapolis in 1939 as an honor student with a scholarship to Drake University, which she was unable to pursue.

In 1949 she married Sigurd Bjornaraa of Pennington County, MN and became Denver Lucile Bjornaraa. She had two daughters as the result of her marriage, Thora and Selma Bjornaraa.

Denny has lived in Minnesota, South Dakota, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California, Hawaii, and Sydney, Australia. She loved to travel, and has made over twenty trips to Australia to visit her younger daughter Selma and grandchildren there. She has also been on a European tour with another grandchild, and a number of cruises to places like the Caribbean and Australia with friends.

Denny was a lifelong member of the Lutheran Church and most recently attended services as a member of Peace Lutheran Church in Covington, WA. She was an avid sports fan, always cheering for her home teams from Minnesota (even when matched against Washington!) She was a wonderful tennis player, playing well into her seventies. During her professional career she worked as a probate paralegal, an administrative assistant, personal secretary, and a Civil Service worker. After retiring, she was on the Advisory Council Board of the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program of the State of Hawaii. She also spent much of her time volunteering as a classroom tutor in reading and math at her grandchildren's school in Waikoloa, Hawaii. She taught Sunday school at her church in Waikoloa, and more recently at Peace Lutheran church in Covington, WA. She has always loved spending time with children, both her own grandchildren and the children whom she taught.

Denver was preceded in death by her mother, Olive Babcock Arnold, her father, Albert W. Arnold, and one brother, Ilo Webster Arnold. All were interred at the Congregational Cemetery in Athol, South Dakota

She is survived by her younger brother Hervey "Brownie" Arnold (Pat) of Minnesota; her two daughters: Thora Abarca of Hilo, Hawaii and Selma MacFarlane of Geelong, Australia; her five grandchildren: Terra Jenkins (Whitney) and Mary Conner (Joe), of Washington state, and Freyja Fogerty (Joe), Anna MacFarlane, and Alex MacFarlane, of Australia; and four great-grandchildren.