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A celebration of life will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 14, 2025, at Calvary Evangelical Free Church in Rugby with lunch and fellowship to follow for Kenneth Allen Arens, 77, of Rugby, N.D., who passed away peacefully in his Arizona home under hospice care on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, following a battle with Lewy Body Dementia. A private family burial service will take place at the Carrington Cemetery. Ken, the son of Jake and Florence (Sheltrau) Arens, was born on June 14, 1947, in Langdon, N.D. Ken was raised in the Langdon area, graduating from Langdon High School in 1966. After graduating, he entered the Army National Guard, completing his basic training in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. He started his career in the grain elevator business in 1968 at Cargill in Carrington, N.D. before being honorably discharged from the Army National Guard. While he was in Carrington, he met the love of his life, Deborah Jean Montgomery, and they were united in marriage on Oct. 22, 1971. During their time in Carrington, they welcomed their first child, Crystal. In 1975, they moved to Leeds to be the manager at the Cargill elevator in York, and a year later they welcomed their second child, Janean. After living in Leeds for 22 years, the couple relocated to Langdon in 1997 where Ken managed the Cargill elevator for five years before moving to Rugby in 2002 to be the grain buyer at the Rugby Farmers Elevator until his retirement in 2015. Ken treasured the many relationships he built with farmers and co-workers throughout his 47-year career.
