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In Memory

Charles Armstrong - Class Of 1957

Charles E. (Ed) Armstrong, Jr. died unexpectedly Sept. 16, 2019, in his home. Mass of Christian Burial will be 10:30 a.m., Monday, Sept. 23, at St. Mary’s Cathedral, Grand Island. The Most Rev. William J. Dendinger will be the Celebrant along with priests of The Grand Island Diocese. Burial will be in the Grand Island Cemetery. Visitation will be from 3-5 p.m., Sunday with a parish rosary recited at 5 p.m., at St. Leo’s Catholic Church, Grand Island. All Faiths Funeral Home is entrusted with the arrangements. Ed was born Aug. 8, 1939, in Lincoln, the son of Charles E. and Mary Alice (Fitzgerald) Armstrong. He was baptized and confirmed at St. Teresa Church in Lincoln. The family moved to McCook, Neb., where Ed graduated from McCook Senior High School. He then graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and shortly thereafter moved to Grand Island, entering the securities business with Ellis, Holyoke & Co. Ed became associated with Edward Jones Investments in 1977, and retired in December 2009. Not long after moving to Grand Island, Ed met Meta Willard who was teaching in California and home visiting her parents. They were married Aug. 25, 1967, at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Grand Island. Ed is survived by his wife Meta, and their three children and their spouses: Will and Lori Armstrong, Matthew and Janelle Armstrong, Carolyn Armstrong-Brown and Brian Brown, as well as nine grandchildren: Nolan Lien, Sydney, Samantha and Sophia Armstrong, Charles and Thomas Armstrong, and Creighton, Elena and Victoria Brown. Ed is also survived by his three sisters and their spouses: Regina Siegwarth and Jim, Suzanne Leicht and Gary, Beverly Owens and Jerry. In addition to being a financial advisor at Edward Jones, for 24 years Ed was chairman of the firm’s profit-sharing administrative committee which had oversight responsibility for the retirement assets of all Edward Jones associates. He was also chairman of the investment committee for the Edward Jones Foundation. He was named a principal of the firm in 1996, and stepped down in 2006. Ed served as chairman of the St. Francis Medical Center, College Park at Grand Island, and the Grand Island Economic Development Corporation. He was president of the Grand Island Rotary Club and St. Leo’s Church Parish Council. He was also an officer in the Nebraska Air National Guard. Ed served on the boards of Goodwill Industries, the Chamber of Commerce, and Heartland Events Center. He served as a member of the University of Nebraska President’s Advisory Council and the University of Nebraska-Kearney Chancellor’s Advisory Council. With his spouse and Mr. and Mrs. Bud Wolbach, he served as a general chairman of the 2000 Stuhr Museum Capital Campaign. Ed and Meta also served as chairs of the 2004 Heartland United Way Campaign. In his retirement, Ed became a member of the Editorial Board of the Grand Island Independent, work he especially enjoyed. Ed thought Grand Island was a wonderful place to live, full of good and capable people. He often commented that the best thing that happened to him was his marriage to Meta, and that they were blessed with three terrific children. Memorials are suggested to either the Boys Scouts of America Overland Trail Council in Grand Island, or the McCook Educational Foundation in McCook, Nebraska.

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https://www.mccookgazette.com/story/2635487.html?fbclid=IwAR2sLrfp-HYSbLtPYG0mpk7W1c0yKTCXm2r2QGyrm9iyNI08nHI5zMV3aLA