Mr Armstrong
Expressing gratitude on the occasion of his passing
I started at ‘the college ‘in 1985. A month in and I found myself in Mr Armstrong’s office.
I had offended the Headmistress of St Brigid’s. Mr Armstrong planned that he and I would go with a bouquet and I would apologise. I offered to pay for half of the flowers which pleased him. We completed the assignment and it created a bond between us.
It didn't rehabilitate me as there were more assignments, too many to recount now.
The one I will share is the one in which his fatherly heart beat the loudest.
I got myself a fine at the local youth court. It was 1985, the year of the Anglo-Irish agreement which caused many protests. Anyway, one Friday afternoon I said to him, “Mr Armstrong I won't be in class this afternoon as I have to go to the courthouse and pay some of my fine.”
He replied,
“Gordon if my car is free I will take you.”
The car was free, he took me, he waited for me and he brought me back to school. I am not aware that anyone else knew.
Now what you have to appreciate in the telling of these stories is that this 15/16 year old kid is absorbing the kindness of this man.
I didn't get the sufficient O’levels to stay on at PC but I still turned up every so often at his office for a chat.
He retired in 1993 the same year I departed for England.
It was 11 years ago due to our year having a reunion that we reconnected. The short story, I was encouraged to ring his bell and that opened the door to our reacquaintance.
Over the last 11 years, we have exchanged letters. He always included an overview of his grandchildren and their academic and sporting performance. Each year when I returned home we would meet at his home and talk for hours.
I attempted in these years to make up for my rebellious years. He would send me books, one of which was Alan Johnston’s, a former Education minister in a Blair government entitled ‘This Boy’. I then wrote to Alan Johnston and told him how I came by his book. He replied and ‘applauded headteachers such as Mr Armstrong’. I passed the letter to him.
In Mr Armstrong’s last letter to me in January which I opened on Thursday ( I would save his letters like presents and open them when the moment seemed right). In it, he wrote amongst many things about ‘the college’s’ upcoming centenary dinner to be held this Friday 8th March. He spoke about realising that he was almost as old as the college mentioning his birthday 2 days after the celebration.
Herein is my attempt to express my gratitude to the person I knew as Mr Armstrong. May it unite with those who knew him knowing that great or small our lives were changed for the better simply by knowing, ‘Mr Armstrong’
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