June 13, 1933 - February 19, 2020 Arnolda C. Utrecht died peacefully on February 19, 2020 after a long and eventful life. As the founder and longtime guiding force of Glendale Montessori School, she shepherded the education and social development of generations of children for the past 50 years. Through her indomitable will and fierce determination, she surmounted great adversity and created a life of accomplishment that will inspire those lucky enough to have known her for years to come. She was born in Utrecht, The Netherlands on June 13, 1933. Her father, Abraham Cohen, died in Stuttgart as a slave laborer from the concentration camp during the Second World War. After their divorce in 1936, her mother, Jansje Reumerman, raised her as a single parent in Holland, together with her twin sister, Josephine Cohen Land, and her younger brother, Albert Cohen. She grew up in The Hague, The Netherlands. Arnolda and her siblings were children of the Holocaust. Her mother suffered from tuberculosis, and for several years she and her siblings were "off the books" residents of a religious orphanage. She grew up suffering genuine fear, hunger and need, and that experience shaped the adult she would become. She graduated in 1956 from Teacher College in The Hague, where she first received training as a Montessori teacher. She worked for the National Iranian Oil Company in Iran, teaching the children of Dutch employees. While in Iran, she married an American, Robert P. Utrecht, who was working as an accountant. She returned to Holland for the birth of her son, Paul F. Utrecht, and two years later, for the birth of her daughter, Claire J. Utrecht. In 1963, the family moved to Burbank, California. She and Robert were divorced when the children were still very young. Although she did not remarry, she and Eric Hof were together for more than a decade before his death in 1985. She became a teacher at the Calabasas Montessori School in 1965, and then at the West Los Angeles Montessori School, where she was the principal for one year. In 1971, she struck out on her own to found the Glendale Montessori School. Over the decades, the school became an institution in Glendale, and a favorite of employees and actors working for the television and movie industry in Burbank. She finally retired about 4 years ago, at the age of 82, after a retirement event in her honor held at the school and attended by several hundred current and former students, parents and employees. She was active in the Dutch community in Southern California as a member of the Netherlands American Society and the Netherlands Social Services Organization (NESSO), and served on the board of directors of both organizations for decades, continuing a life-long commitment of service to others. Queen Beatrix of Holland awarded her a medal recognizing her work on behalf of NESSO. She traveled the world, including Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, South America, Cairo, Morocco, the Canary Islands, and many places in Europe. She especially enjoyed her frequent trips to Las Vegas. She was smart and funny, opinionated and quick-witted. She was predeceased by her brother, Albert Lucienne Cohen. She is survived by her children, her twin sister Josephine Cohen Land, who lives in Friesland, and her half-brother Huub Cohen, whom she first met in 1974, and who lives in Limburg.