A very sad Mother's Day, 2024.

My sister, Patti lost her husband after being married for almost 43 years.

Mark Armstrong left the world after having a profound, positive impact from a  life that had great meaning.

His gifted broadcasting talents and bigger than life personality were second to none. His commitment to family and to others having a good time was experienced by so many that benefited from knowing him.

His desire to help people and make the world a better place JUST LIKE YOU,  Patti led to the 2 of you both joining the Peace Corps after graduating from college and meeting in the Marshall Islands. 

It was destined to be! No other way could 2 people from different parts of the country have met like this and decided to spend the rest of their lives together, until "death do us part", which very suddenly and tragically happened on May 11, 2024, hours before  Mother's Day.

Those marriage vows were given at St. Alphonsus Church in Dearborn Michigan, on June 19, 1981, where the 6 of us Maguire siblings went to Catholic School.

Mark is the  tall guy with a beard. His bride, Patti is in white.

Mark practiced his Catholic faith  with gusto during the entire marriage and the 2 of you shared this bond closely every day.

You should be extremely proud of yourself, Patti for being such a great wife to Mark and mother to your 10 children, here on Mother's Day, 2024.

The 2 of you created a wonderful, growing clan of Armstrong's that are spreading out in the world and blessing you with grandchildren. The  best evidence of all that Mark's life had profound meaning.

Carrying on Mark's name and remembering such a special man.

Every time a new grandchild comes into the world...........it's another great reminder of who's seed started it with his commitment to following God's will and his wonderful dedication to family that started with your wedding vows on June 19, 1981 but will NEVER END!

Mark will always be remembered!

Genesis 1:28

“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”

Love, Mike

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With regards to some of my own interactions with Mark:

I really liked Mark.

Shortly after Patti and Mark got married in 1981, Mariann (our youngest sister) and I went out to Portland, OR to stay with them for a week+.

Mariann had just graduated from Michigan State University, Mike from University of Michigan and we were both looking for a career and potential opportunities.

Mark was the star reporter for the top rated, early morning radio news station. As somebody thinking about broadcast television as a career for the first time, I couldn't get over how talented our new brother in law was. His communication skills were flawless. He never flubbed a word.........EVER!  He was interesting,  very informed and had the perfect deep, appealing sounding voice.

He was so good that it allowed him to finish doing his job with recording work after the live morning "drive time" shows a couple hours early. I remember him telling us that he was the only person there that could do everything in just 1 take.

He would be off around noon every day and take the 3 of us, Patti, Mariann and me  on tours of all the awesome things to see in Oregon in the afternoons.

The Columbia River Gorge one day.

The Pacific Ocean and sea lion caves the next day.

Then, Mt. Hood, that still had snow on it at the time. As a just graduated meteorologist this was especially fascinating and memorable to be in snow during August.

If we had paid for a private tour guide, it couldn't have been better!

We enjoyed this tremendously! However Mark was a major type A personality, especially when driving. Mariann and I got the heck scared out of us numerous times that week from Mark's driving like a maniac. Especially on the winding roads of Mt. Hood when he would pass cars at high speeds with a huge drop off on the other side of the road.  No judging here as Deb (my wife) has said the exact same thing about me (-:

 Was that an Escort that he was driving from Dad's A plan at Ford Motor Company?

Mariann lived in Portland briefly, then moved to Alaska for the next 4+ decades.

My career took me to Cincinnati, OH then Evansville, IN after getting an offer to be chief meteorologist for WEHT-TV in September 1982.

My first Summer here was in 1983 and guess who was the first family to visit?

Mark and Patti!  

Mark loved to drive and they decided to make a stop in Evansville, Indiana to see me. What a treat!

This was back before cell phones and the internet. So the anticipation of their arrival was extremely exciting. I also remember thinking that Mark will probably see me as an amateur(which I was)  compared to his polished broadcasting skills. 

It was a great visit but during a record heat wave with temperatures reaching 100+ degrees every day. They also had baby Aaron with them, their first of 10 children. I only had 1 window air conditioner in the bedroom.

They got to come into the tv station for a tour and the studio a couple of times to watch our newscast and me doing the weather. One of the best radio reporters in the country driving to a small Indiana town to watch his brother in law do the weather on television.

 I actually have a couple of funny memories from their brief visit:

1. When Mark and Patti arrived at the front door of my apartment in Henderson, KY  instead of the usual greetings, Mark's first words were "What is the deal with all those traffic lights on highway 41 in Evansville???"  Anybody from Evansville knows that we have the nickname stop light city for that  very reason..........and I totally understood his frustration.
2. It was extremely hot and humid and my apartment had only the 1 window air conditioner, which was in the bedroom with 1 queen sized bed. So the 3 Armstrongs slept on the bed (baby Aaron in the middle) and I slept on the floor just outside the bedroom where there was enough cool air near the ground. But this is what led to the funny part. The last night there, baby Aaron peed all over the mattress and left a massive stain after it dried up, (which to a 27 year old guy didn't matter 1 iota).

 So every time I washed my sheets, I got to see where Aaron marked his territory 

Over 30 years later, I mentioned it to Patti for the first time. She was very surprised and we had a great laugh!

I can truly appreciate Marks's  love of driving .......... or at least his willingness to drive on long trips. Patti is probably the only one that really knows how many  miles that Mark drove while they were married.

Patti and Mark came to visit Evansville again in 2007. When our daughter, Shani got married,  at historical St. Boniface Catholic Church on the West Side. They came with a van full of big Armstrong kids this time. After using our entire 3rd floor for their clan during the  stay,  I didn't notice any pee stains after they left  this time (-:

Mark drove again, of course. And the Armstrong's, with Mark leading the way as planner and chauffeur became part of another fond memory for me and my family.

The Armstrong's, actually living with Mark were treated to this sort of thing their entire  lives.

Love,

Mike, Debbie and the Evansville, Indiana Family