[1] She attended Glenbard West High School before receiving a bachelor's of science degree in teaching from Northern Illinois University in 1955, where she served as one of the first female student body presidents.
[4] Arndt worked as a fourth and fifth grade teacher at Lincoln Elementary School in Villa Park, before she and her husband founded the Lombard Veterinary Hospital in 1959.
[1][3] She was involved with local activism, helping with the construction of the Bicentennial Lombard Log Cabin in Sunset Park, serving as a member of the women's board of the Lincoln Park Zoological Society, and assisting with the parent-teacher association and as a local Girl Scout leader while her daughters were growing up.
[1] She served as the Illinois publicity chairwoman for the National Republican Women's Conference in Washington, D.C., in 1969 and as the precinct committeewoman for DuPage County.
[2] Arndt was elected to the Illinois Republican Committee in 1982 as the only woman on the twenty-two person commission, representing the 6th congressional district.
[1] Arndt was honored for her service by HR 1563, a resolution proposed by Representative Tom Cross and passed by the Illinois General Assembly on November 19, 2008.