MEREDITH, NH ---- Patricia “Pat” Ellis Armstrong, 85, passed away peacefully with family by her side on Monday, April 12, 2021, at UF Health The Villages Hospital, FL.
Pat will be sorely missed as a devoted wife and mother as well as a treasured friend to many.
Pat was born May 25, 1935, in Middlebury, VT, the daughter of the late Clayton James Ellis and Florence Ellis (Fenn) and sister of the late Ruth Ellis Rouse, White River Junction, VT. She grew up in Middlebury, VT, where she met her husband, Jack, at Middlebury High School. Pat earned an undergraduate Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Education from the University of New Hampshire.
After college, Pat married her high-school sweetheart, Jack, and they lived briefly in Burlington, VT, until moving to Virginia/Metro DC area. Pat taught music in the Virginia public school system until they started a family. In 1968, Pat and Jack returned to New England where they resided in Harvard and then Concord, MA. She and Jack eventually settled in Meredith, near their beloved summer cottage on Lake Winnipesaukee where they enjoyed summers with their children and grandchildren and the numerous friends who came to visit. Here, she shared her husband’s love for antique cars and all of the friends they met through car tours and shows. They were both active members of the Antique Auto Club of America (AACA) National and Local chapters in The Lakes Region and The Villages, FL, where they wintered for over 20 years.
Pat was a dedicated classical musician and played violin and viola in many orchestras and string groups throughout New England and Florida, including the Lakes Region Symphony Orchestra. A highlight for Pat was playing with the local orchestra in Peterborough, England, when the family relocated there for a year. Pat was a passionate, talented, and generous knitter and quilter. She loved to create for others - all of her children and grandchildren were recipients of knitted sweaters, socks, and beautiful quilts. She owned a yarn shop for many years in Concord, MA. She was actively involved in several quilt groups in both NH and Florida including the Country Village Quilt Guild in the Lakes Region. Pat loved to play mahjong, bridge, and golf and enjoyed all of the wonderful people she met. She valued the fellowship of Sunday services and choir participation at the First Congregational Church of Meredith, as well as the charitable works of her PEO chapter.
She is survived by her daughter Susan Mueller and husband Peter, of Philadelphia; her sons, David Armstrong and wife Elise, of Goffstown, NH, and Steven Armstrong, and wife Rose-Lynn of Windham, NH; her grandchildren Tyler Mueller, Nathan Mueller, Philip Armstrong, Andrew Armstrong, Jack Armstrong, and Annika Armstrong. Pat’s late husband of 63 years, Marshall “Jack” Armstrong, recently died in September 2020.
A service honoring Pat’s life will be held in Meredith, NH, at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation in memory of Patricia E. Armstrong to St Jude, online at https://www.stjude.org/donate, or by mail to 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105, or another charity of your choice.
Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home & Cremation Services and 603Cremations.com, 164 Pleasant St., Laconia, NH, 03246, is assisting the family with arrangements. For more information and to view an online memorial, please visit www.wilkinsonbeane.com.