Orpal Armstrong

June 27, 1920—June 3, 2011

Orpal Trammell Armstrong, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother, was born June 27, 1920 in Laurel, Mississippi, the first child and only daughter of Homer and Evie Trammell. Her long 90 year journey ended on Friday, June 3, 2011 in Oklahoma City with her husband Cleston, son Lee, and granddaughter Margaret at her side. Orpal was raised in Laurel where she graduated in 1938 from George S. Gardiner High School, then earned an Associate of Arts degree from Jones County Junior College in 1940. Ambitious and always independent, Orpal continued her education at the University of Mississippi in Oxford. At Ole Miss she studied business and economics, and was awarded a Bachelor of Science in Commerce degree in 1942. Orpal flirted with the idea of attending law school, but funds were scarce and when offered a position by the Tennessee Valley Authority, she quickly accepted and moved to Knoxville, Tennessee. Throughout the war years, Orpal worked by day as an administrator at TVA and spent evenings volunteering for the Red Cross, ministering to wounded troops at the nearby VA hospital. During this period she maintained a long distance relationship with Cleston Armstrong, her junior college sweetheart. In January, 1944, Orpal rode a train cross country to Baltimore, where she and Cleston were married in the Johns Hopkins University Chapel. Immediately following their wedding, Cleston departed for military service in North Africa and Orpal returned to Knoxville. Through her hospital volunteer experiences, she became interested in patient care. Thinking she could complete nursing school before her husband returned from the war, Orpal applied and was accepted to the University of Georgia College of Nursing. While preparing to move to Georgia, she received notice from the university that they did not accept married nursing students; her acceptance had been revoked. She took this disappointing news with resignation, and continued her career with TVA until Cleston returned from the Pacific Theater at war’s end. In 1946 they returned to Mississippi to begin their family. Orpal embarked on this chapter of her life in her customary way, with a commitment to perfection as a wife and mother. During Cleston’s career as a petroleum geologist, the family moved to Shreveport, Charleston, Wichita, Amarillo, and finally in 1971, to Oklahoma City. Regardless of location, her house always felt like home, a warm and inviting place for all who entered. Orpal was tireless in her devotion to family. After raising her three children and following the loss of her daughter, by then well into her 60’s, she undertook raising two young grandchildren as her own. Over a period that spanned seven decades, while nurturing and mentoring five children through adulthood, Orpal somehow carved out time to play the piano at her church, teach vacation bible school, serve as a Cub Scout and Brownie Scout den mother, act as the family chauffer and academic tutor, and engage in numerous community and church volunteer activities. Despite her often frail condition, when she learned of someone in need, Orpal was usually the first to offer assistance.

In her time Orpal might have been described as a renaissance woman. She was well read, fluent in French, and an accomplished pianist. She was a gourmet cook in the grand Southern tradition, and a gracious and renowned hostess. Despite her impressive resume Orpal was always self-effacing, and by example taught her children the virtue of humility. Among her many friends Orpal was known for her wonderful sense of humor, her grit and determination, and most of all, her selflessness. She asked nothing for herself, but gave all that she had.

Orpal was preceded in death by her parents, brothers Herschel, Herbert, and Homer Trammell, daughter Kathryn Armstrong Bertram, and son Terry Armstrong. She is survived by her husband of 67 years, Cleston Armstrong, son Dr. Lee Armstrong and wife Kathy Guthrie of Austin, Texas, granddaughter Erin Hatcher and husband Jason of Frisco, Texas, grandson Dr. Clay Armstrong and wife Brooke Martin of Nanaimo, British Columbia, granddaughter Margaret Howe and husband Brandon of Oklahoma City, grandson Alex Bertram and wife Yada of Midwest City, and great grandchildren Lily, Emma and Addison Armstrong, Caroline and Molly Hatcher, and Tygun Bertram.

Tolkien wrote: “What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.” And so it is with Orpal Armstrong. Her legacy is one of kindness, caring, and countless good deeds. We shall miss her dearly, but find comfort in knowing she is now with God.