John Herbert Armstrong

John Herbert Armstrong, an architectural model maker for many years and a World War II Veteran, passed away at the age of 94, on May 17, 2016 in Kirtland, OH. John was a story teller about his life, war experiences, trains, railroads and his many travels. He had a remarkable memory and his wonderful stories will be deeply missed by all. John is survived by his wife of 58 years, Mary June (Ogden) Armstrong; his son, Michael D. Armstrong and wife, Anne (Moore) Armstrong; his daughter, Jennifer H. (Armstrong) Park; sister-in-law, Nancy Armstrong; cousins: Herbert Armstrong and Brantley Rudisill; grandchildren: Heather C. Park, Nathan Park and wife, Katie; great grandchild, Sofia, and several nieces and nephews plus many close friends. He is preceded in death by his parents, Walter J. and Helen (McNamara) Armstrong; a sister, Nancy Tibbets (Armstrong) Rosser, her husband, John P. Rosser; brother, Robert H. Armstrong; cousins: John Armstrong and wife, Bonnie, of Boston, MA; Arthur Armstrong and wife, Gloria, in PA; Frank Armstrong and wife, Marguerite, of Vermont; Rufus Rudisill of PA and Mrs. John (Harriet) Piper of VA. In 1942, John joined the U.S. Navy as a Corpsman and almost immediately was assigned to the Marines. By age 21, he was a Pharmacist’s Mate, 2nd Class in C Company, 2nd Medical Battalion in the 2nd Marine Division, and was in battles at Tarawa, also Saipan. Medals received by war’s end included the Presidential Unit Citation (Tarawa); Navy Good Conduct; a Combat Infantry medal, and he said he really believed he deserved the Marine Good Conduct medal. After serving in WWII John returned to Columbus and attended Ohio State University. Trains and railroads were John’s passion. He rode over 120 trains throughout the US, Europe and New Zealand and belonged to several scale model railroad clubs. As a youngster, he would hangout at the nearby train station near where he lived in Columbus just to watch the trains and sometimes a train engineer would let him ride, upfront. What a thrill! Over his years John worked in many different capacities, a few being for: The Columbus Bolt Works, Horn Ohio (Cleveland, OH) The Regional Planning Commission (Cleveland, OH) The Austin Co., as their architectural model maker and The City of Kirtland as Zoning Inspector. For a few years he owned his own model shop and was especially proud of the larger architectural models built for Cleveland State University and The Cleveland IX Center. He was a member of The Second Marine Division Association, Life Member of the Marine Corps League, VFW and The American Legion. Funeral service will be held 5:30 pm Sunday May 22, 2016 at Brunner Sanden Deitrick Funeral Home & Cremation Center, 8466 Mentor Ave, Mentor, where the family will receive friends from 3:30 until the time of the service. A private urn burial will be held at a later date in South Kirtland Cemetery. In lieu of flowers the family suggests making a donation to: The Marine Corps League-Colonel Justice M. Chambers Detachment of Lake County, OH, 8720 Twinbrook Drive, Mentor, OH 44060 or the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, 15500 South Waterloo Road, Cleveland, OH 44110. Offer condolences at www.brunners.com.