HENRY HILLIARD ARMSTRONG

ARMSTRONG HENRY HILLIARD

Of Pittsburgh and Ligonier, Pennsylvania, and Muskoka Lake, Ontario. Henry died on August 14, 2019 in Muskoka, surrounded by his family. He is survived by his beloved wife of 65 years, Nancy McKay Armstrong; son, James McKay Armstrong of Pittsburgh; daughters, Mimi Armstrong deGruy (the late Michael deGruy) of Santa Barbara, Betsy Armstrong (Richard Barr) of Santa Fe, Megan Armstrong (Mark Kenward) of Oakland; and grandchildren, Max and Frances deGruy, Rosalie Kenward and Natalie Barr. Born on November 23, 1930 in Pittsburgh, PA to the late Charles Dudley Armstrong and Mary Hilliard Armstrong, he grew up in Lancaster, PA. and attended the North Country School, the Fessenden School, St. Paul's School, and he graduated from Yale University in 1953. After college, he joined the Armstrong Cork Company (now Armstrong World Industries), a company founded by his great-grandfather Thomas Morton Armstrong. In 1954, he moved to Pittsburgh to marry Nancy McKay, and received a law degree from the University of Pittsburgh. He then joined the Union National Bank of Pittsburgh, where he began the foundation of his career as an investment advisor. From there he went to Chaplin McGuiness and Co. in 1967 where he stayed until 1973 as a Vice President and Director. In 1973, he founded Knowles & Armstrong, a registered investment advisor, with the late Albert Knowles and in 1983, he went on his own to found Henry Armstrong Associates, a firm now run by his son James Armstrong. A gifted and passionate angler, Henry traveled the globe in search of the best fishing spots, not so much for the biggest fish, but for the solitude and beauty that he found in those places. For fifty years, he fished all over the world with a tight-knit band of Yale friends. They fished the Whale river in Northern Quebec, the Mirimichi and Grand Cascapedia in New Brunswick, the Ponoy in Russia, the Laxá and Langa in Iceland, and the Dee in Scotland, where he and his friends had a beat on the Tweed for 20 years. But his home stream was the Rolling Rock trout stream in the Laurel Mountains of Pennsylvania, where he knew every inch and every pool. He stopped bringing trout home for dinner forty years ago, telling his family that "these fish are my friends". Henry was an enthusiastic and expert botanist and gardener and transformed the outdoor spaces where he lived into lush oases that were magical to his four children. They remember him well in his after-work landscaping "uniform" of work boots, gardening pants and flannel shirts, and he was never without his wide brimmed hat. It was a wonderful place to spend time with him as he described the plants and animals that surrounded him. He was contemplative, incredibly kind, very smart, an independent thinker, and a true gentleman. He was an environmentalist long before that label existed. He was unpretentious, humble, and very funny, and that humor was intact up until the very end. Henry embodied the philosophy that a person is defined not by a name, or a family history, but by the love you give and the passions you pursue. The family is planning a memorial for the spring, somewhere in the natural world Henry loved so much. In memory of Henry, contributions may be made to the  Loyalhanna Watershed, in Ligonier, PA 724-238-7560.