Carmen L. Armstrong

Carmen L. Armstrong passed away peacefully at her senior living residence in San Diego, under hospice care. Carmen was born in Decatur Indiana, daughter of the late Arnold and Luella Gerberding. Carmen is preceded in death by her husband, Nolan, her eldest brother Miles, and her sister Charlotte. She is survived by her daughters Becky Armstrong and Karen (Mark) Hughes, and her brothers Kieth (Joanne) Gerberding, and Mark (Debra) Gerberding, as well as many nieces and nephews.

Carmen believed in making the most of her time, and lived a full life of family, career, and friendships. She was a gifted artist, exhibiting her artwork in Illinois and Arizona. Her career as a Professor of Art Education at Northern Illinois University led to lifelong friends with students and colleagues.

Carmen loved animals. She promoted the family hobby of riding and raising horses, as well as nurturing a menagerie of other animals. She loved her expansive vegetable and flower gardens in Illinois, and cultivated raspberry, currant, and gooseberry bushes for jams and pies. Carmen and Nolan created a beautiful home and horse property, and enjoyed wonderful times with friends and neighbors. Later Carmen and Nolan moved to Tucson Arizona to enjoy the desert lifestyle, planting grapefruit, lemon, and tangerine trees, and made close friendships with neighbors and church members.

Carmen was a member of St. John's Lutheran Church in Sycamore, Illinois, and Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Tucson, Arizona.

Carmen and Nolan's ashes will be together scattered at sea off the coast of San Diego.  

















 

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