Arden John Schwartz

Salem- Arden was born on June 14th 1945, to Hardwick and Esther (Albrecht) Schwartz the second of two sons. He grew up on a farm between Richey and Bloomfield Montana. He attended a country school for the first eight years of his life, and graduated from Richey High School in 1963. He excelled in track and was a gifted musician singing bass in choir and different quartets, and playing guitar. Music was a very important part of his home life as well as in school. Upon graduation he attended Freeman Jr. College in South Dakota, as well as one year at University of South Dakota, in Vermillion. In the summer of 1966, Arden was working for the Highway Department with the survey crew, residing in Circle Montana during the week.  He would eat dinner at the local restaurant; not just because the food was so good, but he was surveying the dishwasher, Sheila Atkinson. After many months, he finally got up the courage to ask her out on a date, and on December 8, 1968, he accepted her proposal of marriage. The best deal ever he would say, I not only got a great cook, but someone to wash the dishes. He also got a father and mother in law who loved him as their own and 8 brothers and sisters.  Arden began working for his father in law at the local grocery store, in which he learned the trade of meat cutting and for the next 25 years he cut meat, had his own processing plant, and in 1997 moved to Oregon. He finished out his career working at Maclaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn. His greatest accomplishment would be that of husband and father. God would bless him with 5 children, two who would precede him in death. Brendan (Keri) Schwartz, Melody Schwartz, and Kara(Dorian) Forrar. His grandchildren were the delight of his life and he had eleven, Jonathan( Molly), Tyler(Tina), Ryan(Ina), Hannah,(Tim) Austin(Brynn), Hailee, Adriana, Joel, Gracia, Nathanael, and Kaden. Arden was a friend to all, and he always made you feel that you were more important than anything he had going on, he loved people and was always interested in the stories of their lives. He enjoying the beauty of God’s creation, planting and harvest, mowing grass, and anything that he could do with his hands, like fixing anything, and playing guitar. He is survived by his wife, Sheila, his three kids and their families, his wife’s sisters, Agnes (Leo) Sandy (Barry),  brother’s Charles (Annaleah) James (Brenda) Monte (Annie) and David (Marcia), many nieces and nephews, and his most loyal companion P J.  He was preceded in death by his daughter Kimberly, and his son Derek, his mother and father, and his brother Conrad and his wife Gloria, his wife’s father and mother, Tom and Edna, and two sister in laws, Carla and Sheri. In Lieu of flowers please make donations in Arden's name to the Union Gospel Mission.