Mary Armstrong

Mary Virginia Armstrong, age 89 years of Bertrand Road in Niles, Michigan died at 11:30 p.m. on Sunday, February 10, 2013 at Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center in Mishawaka, Indiana following a brief illness.

She was born on August 3, 1923 in Centralia, Illinois to George and Mary (Phillips) Airman. She was first employed in the offices of Peter Eckrich & Sons in South Bend. In 1954, she moved to Niles, and earned her diploma from Brandywine High School in 1972. She also completed the courses of the Vouge Beauty School in 1974, and was board certified and licensed as a Cosmetologist and Electrolysist. She was employed in the Beauty Salon of the former L.S.Ayers stores at the Scottsdale Mall and at University Park Mall; and had a salon in her home.

Mary attended Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church in Niles. She enjoyed outdoor activities including camping, hunting, and fishing. She also enjoyed skeet shooting, and yardwork, and was an avid bird watcher with a special interest in the Indigo Bunting.

In 1936, she married George Harold Armstrong, who preceded her in death in 1969. She later married James Ralph Gilham in 1977, and he preceded her in death in 1984.

Surviving family includes her daughter, Linda (& Grant) Wolf of South Bend; and Mary’s siblings, Donald Peddicord of Meade, Oklahoma, Margaret "Marie" Anderson of Clearwater, Florida, and George Airman of Alabama.

The funeral service for Mary Virginia Armstrong will be at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, February 15, 2013 at the Halbritter Funeral Home in Niles with the Rev. Carl W. Bassett of Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church officiating. The family will receive relatives and friends at the funeral home beginning at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. Committal will be at a later date at Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens in Osceola, Indiana.

---