Edmonds Beacon - Your Hometown News Source

Kenneth Wayne Armstrong passed peacefully in his sleep late Saturday evening, Dec.18, 2021, after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.

He was born in Chicago to Ode Belle and Hayden Armstrong. He grew up in Sand Point, Idaho, with his mother and stepfather, Dutch Kohlman. He attended the University of Washington and Gonzaga University, in Spokane, where he met and married his wife of 61 years, Catherine (Thompson) Armstrong.

Ken and Kate moved to Seattle, then Edmonds, where they raised four children: Peter, John (wife, Lucia Armstrong) Margaret, and Elizabeth (husband, Matthew Quick).

He will be remembered fondly by their grandchildren: Natasha, Stephen, John, Peter, Jacob, and Benjamin, and their great-granddaughter, Lily, as well as many nieces and nephews.

After college, Ken worked as a high school history and English teacher and coached football and basketball. He worked at Farmers Insurance as a senior claims adjustor and, in his spare time, kept busy with his many hobbies, including carpentry, gardening, painting, cooking, and attending kids' sporting events, and he loved reading and writing philosophy. He had a sharp and robust wit and was devoted to his family.

Upon retirement, Ken and Kate moved to the Green Lake neighborhood in Seattle, where they made more lifelong friendships before Ken moved to an assisted living facility.

A funeral mass was held Jan. 6, 2022, at Sacred Heart Church in Bellevue at 10:30 a.m. A private burial will follow, where Ken will be laid to rest at Holyrood Cemetery in Shoreline.

Please consider a donation to the Alzheimer's Association in lieu of flowers.