Willis Armstrong Obituary

Willis Edward Armstrong, known as Bill, was born March 15, 1916 in the family home in Colorado Springs to his parents, Dell Heizer Armstrong and Willis Roberts Armstrong. He died on November 27, 2006. Bill was the fourth of six children in a lively, civic-minded and gregarious family. He attended Steele School and North Junior High School and graduated from Colorado Springs High School in 1933. He graduated from Colorado College in 1937, having majored in physics and been a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. In 1940, he married his wife of 66 years, Elizabeth (Betty) Adams Armstrong. Bill and Betty created their own lively family of five daughters; they loved to camp in Rocky Mountain National Park, sing songs accompanied by Bill's guitar, hike, ski, and play games. The family also belonged to the First Congregational Church (the United Church of Christ) where Betty is still a member. Bill received a Masters' in physics at Northwestern University, and then worked as a physicist at the Bureau of Standards in Washington DC during World War II. He was on the team that developed the radio proximity fuse, which improved the efficiency of bombs and mortar shells and was first used in the Battle of the Bulge. After the war he and Betty moved back to Colorado Springs where Bill joined his father and brother at the Colorado Springs National Bank. He attended the Wisconsin School of Banking in 1958, and eventually retired as Executive Vice President in 1983. As a boy, Bill was active in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. He was energetic and loved being outside, playing games, riding bikes and scooters, ice skating, picnicking, swimming, hiking and working in the garden with his mother. He played the clarinet in the high school band. As an adult, he spent as much time as he could in the out of doors, skiing, playing tennis, gardening, fishing and hiking. He also enjoyed playing cards and reading. When he was 17, he helped his older brother and a contractor build a large log cabin for their aunt in Cascade, Colorado. He was an inveterate story teller and liked to tell of the time he spent in Cascade working in 'the store,' delivering ice and pumping gas for summer visitors, of his trip to the World's Fair with the Boy Scouts, of skiing 'the Chimney' with his brother John on Pikes Peak and many other events. He was also a repository of family history and devoted to the Colorado Springs area. Upon being offered the presidency of a bank in Aspen, he turned it down, asking "How could you get up in the morning and not be able to see Pikes Peak?" Indeed, he had an intimate association with Pikes Peak, skiing there during his college days and serving as president of the ski club that installed the first rope tow west of the Mississippi. Later, in 1947, he formed the Pikes Peak Ski Corporation to create a family ski area. He would spend hours up on the Peak repairing the rope tow, making snow, helping run the Poma lift and Betty would cook hamburgers for skiers on the weekends. Bill involved himself in leadership roles in numerous civic groups, among them the Kiwanis Club, the YMCA, and Chins Up. He supported the Colorado Springs Parks and Recreation Association, was especially fond of Monument Valley Park and once gave a speech about how the great flood of 1935 had changed the park forever. Bill was also known for his ability as a conversationalist - he loved people and their stories and would not only engage others in conversation but remember what they told him long afterwards. A devoted alumni of Colorado College, Bill was the alumni representative of his class for many years. Along with Betty, he was a member of the President's Council, an officer of the Fifty Year Club and a supporter of the Women's Educational Society; in 1997 they received the Lloyd E. Worner Award for outstanding loyalty, service and generosity to the college. Bill is survived by his loving wife of 66 years, Elizabeth Adams Armstrong; five daughters: Ann Scarboro, Jean Caggiano, Roberta Armstrong, Frances Kruse and Kathy Armstrong; ten grandchildren: Elizabeth Scarboro, Catherine Scarboro, John Scarboro, Jean Scarboro, John Caggiano, David Caggiano, Emily Hoelscher, Ann Hoelscher, Jennifer Kruse, and Stephen Kruse; five great-grandchildren Brady Stevens, Katherine Caggiano, Sydney Caggiano, Theo Gerst, and Naomi Scarboro; and one sister, Jean Armstrong Jones. He is also survived by four sons-in-law: James Scarboro, Anthony Caggiano, Robert Kruse and Edward Cullen, and many nieces, nephews, great nieces, and great nephews. He is preceded in death by his parents, Dell Heizer and Willis Roberts Armstrong, and four siblings: David Armstrong, Frances Ruth Armstrong, Suzanne Starr, and John Armstrong; three brothers-in-law: Alan Otis, William Starr and Gerald Jones, and three sisters-in-law: Ann Armstrong, Patricia Armstrong and Roberta Otis. In lieu of flowers, those who wish may contribute to the Y.M.C.A., or to the planting of a memorial tree in Monument Valley Park. Contributions for the Y.M.C.A. should be sent to the Willis E. Armstrong Memorial Fund, Y.M.C.A. of the Rockies, 207 N. Nevada Ave., Colorado Springs, CO, 80903. Contributions for the memorial tree should be sent to the Parks and Recreation Department, attn.Willis E. Armstrong Tree Fund, 1401 Recreation Way, Colorado Springs, CO, 80905. A Memorial Service will be held on Monday, December 4th, at 11:00 a.m. at the First Congregational Church, 20 East St.Vrain.