Oliver Armstrong

Ollie Armstrong of Corvallis passed away peacefully Thursday afternoon, April 7, 2011, with his daughter by his side. He was 96. He was born in Lorain, Ohio, the second of the three sons of William Oliver and Esther Smith Armstrong. He grew up on a farm owned by the Ohio Masonic Home in Springfield, Ohio, graduating from Springfield High School in 1932. In 1935, he graduated from Miami-Jacobs College with a bachelor's degree in accounting. As accountants were not in great demand during the Depression, Ollie returned to Lorain and became a letter carrier for the post office. On Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 21, 1940, Ollie married Ethel Thompson at the Church of the Redeemer in Lorain, the same church where he and his brothers had been baptized and his own parents were married. At the beginning of World War II, Ollie volunteered for the U.S. Army and served as a 2nd Lieutenant in postal units in North Africa and Italy. After the war, he returned to Lorain, where he and Ethel remained until moving to California in 1948. There Ollie became a postal supervisor, retired from the post office in 1967, and had a second career as an assistant planner with Hughes Aircraft before retiring a second time in 1977. Ollie's greatest joys were his family and friends, and he will be greatly missed by them. A generous man, he delighted in raising funds for the Shriners Hospital for Children in Los Angeles and in supporting the work of many other charitable and missionary organizations. Ollie was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Ethel, and by his older brother, Tom. His survivors include his daughter, Joanie, and her husband, Jim Bard; his three grandchildren, John, Sarah and Carolyn Armstrong Bard, all of Corvallis; his younger brother, Eugene, of Pottsville, Ark.; and many nieces and nephews. A memorial service will take place at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 16, at Calvin Presbyterian Church, 1736 N.W. Dixon St., Corvallis. Marc Andresen will officiate. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Calvin Presbyterian Church, Benton Hospice Service or the Shriners Hospital for Children, Los Angeles.

Oliver Armstrong

March 25, 1915 - April 7, 2011