John Armstrong QSO remembered
Helen Armstrong remembers a phone call her husband of 60 years made back in 1962.
She had gone down to Whanganui to visit her mother while John remained in New Plymouth.
‘‘He rang me and said, ‘I’ve bought a pet shop’.
‘‘I’m afraid I didn’t jump over the moon. I burst into tears. My security in corporate life was gone, but it turned out to be the best thing.
‘‘We fell in love with New Plymouth and felt we would like to put our roots down here.’’
And that’s just what happened. John Gordon Armstrong, who died on December 5, aged 83, left his mark on the city, picking up the Queen’s Service Order in 2006 in recognition of his services to the community.
The businessman, councillor, justice of the peace and one-term MP was a very enthusiastic personality, Helen said.
His career started with Shell Oil and he was transferred from his home town of Whanganui to New Plymouth as area manager in 1959.
‘‘But his personality was such that he was happier running his own business.’’
Which is why he made that call all those years ago.
When Armstrong owned Pets Pantry he would sell gnomes. A guy in Levin would send him up the moulds, he would fill them with concrete and paint them, Helen said.
‘‘People loved them. He didn’t, but people loved them. And they sold.’’
The gnomes made a reappearance at his funeral in the Holy Trinity Anglican Church, New Plymouth, on Tuesday, December 11. They featured on the front of the order of service, with Armstrong’s picture on the back.
‘‘People have been saying that he was a gentleman,’’ Helen said. ‘‘He didn’t seek accolades. He just fixed things if they needed fixing. He was a people person.’’
Armstrong was invited to join the Lions Club when he was 28 and his civic mindedness came from that, she said.
For 12 years, from 1977 to 1989, he was a councillor on what was then the New Plymouth City Council and he was the highest polling candidate in the 1986 elections. His passing was marked with a minute’s silence in the New Plymouth District Council chamber.
Armstrong served as National MP for New Plymouth from 1990 to 1993, and last week in Wellington MPs stood for him as a mark of respect.
Trevor Mallard, Speaker of the House, told MPs Armstrong had been a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee and Planning and Development Committee.
‘‘I desire, on behalf of this House, to express our sense of the loss we have sustained and our sympathy with the relatives of the late former member.’’
From 2004 to 2008 Armstrong was chairman of Taranaki Investment Management Ltd [TIML]. Jonathan Young
Armstrong, who is survived by Helen, their children Roger, Penny and Kristine, nine grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren, ran numerous businesses in New Plymouth and was on many trusts and boards over the decades.
New Plymouth MP Jonathan Young said John Armstrong would be sorely missed.
‘‘He was one of the great businessmen in New Plymouth. He was a tremendous help and support to me as the new MP and to the National party. He’s certainly been one of the fathers of the city.
‘‘He’s always been a great supporter of other people’s aspirations and he has really backed people. In the early days of being an MP I’d often sit with him in his lounge and we’d compare notes of our times as an MP. He’d always give me very solid advice.’’
In the 1980s, former Finance Minister Steven Joyce and some friends started their own radio station, Energy FM, in New Plymouth. It became RadioWorks and was sold in 2001.
Armstrong was one of the first investors in Energy Enterprises, Energy FM, and was hugely influential in getting the venture going in the first place, rounding up people to become shareholders, Joyce said.
‘‘He was a truly wonderful guy. He was always looking at the positive. Fantastic was a word he used a lot.’’
Joyce recalls Armstrong having two sayings – ‘‘If it was easy everybody would be doing it,’’ and ‘‘keep turning over the stones’’ – and the right thing would turn up.
‘‘He encouraged me to get into politics, which was nice of him. Whenever I saw him he was his usual enthusiastic self.’’
John Gordon Armstrong QSO – March 29, 1935 – December 5, 2018
‘‘He was one of the great businessmen in New Plymouth. He was a tremendous help and support to me as the new MP and to the National party. He’s certainly been one of the fathers of the city.’’