MSN_122018

10 | December 20, 2018 | Malibu surfside news news
malibusurfsidenews.com
In Memoriam
Love of life, family, community defined Armstrong
103-year-old Malibu
resident fondly
remembered by his
loved ones
Barbara Burke
Freelance Reporter
William Clinton Armstrong,
III, a Malibu resident
for 68 years, died
Nov. 23, surrounded by his
loving family and leaving
many memories and legacies.
He was 103 years old.
Armstrong was born Jan.
18, 1915 in Seattle. He
lived in southern California
from an early age and graduated
from Santa Monica
High School and UCLA.
“Grandpa Bill always
had something delightful
and witty to say,” said Sunshine
Armstrong-Silverston,
Bill’s granddaughter.
“He found humor in everything.
I think he lived
so long because he always
kept moving and always
had a goal.”
Since 1950, Armstrong
lived on Latigo Shore Drive
in Malibu. He was a proud
member of the Malibu Optimist
Club and a regular
in the traditional Fourth of
July parade on Point Dume,
where he would drive his
1918 Pierce Arrow, beaming
with pride and ready
to converse about the car’s
features. A member of the
National Pierce Arrow Society
since 1960 and cofounder
of the Southern
California Pierce Arrow
Project, Armstrong greatly
enjoyed taking his family
on annual cross country
tours, Alan Armstrong,
Bill’s son, told Malibu
Surfside News.
“Our father and mother
loved skin diving and
Malibu’s Bill Armstrong rides in the 2017 Point Dume
Fourth of July Parade, one of his longtime traditions.
22nd Century Media File Photo
Let Us Paws and
Give Thanks this
Holiday Season
#MALIBUSTRONG
catching abalone and lobster,
and we had a Norman
Rockwell type of childhood,”
Alan said. “We
grew up on the beach and
every girl had a horse and
rode it on the beach, and
we all swam and sailed and
water skied and we always
had a lot of animals.”
Bill’s daughter, Lani Netter,
fondly remembers running
down the beach as a
young girl and her dad taking
her in his arms, swinging
her in a circle.
“After he did that, I got
to ride home on his shoulders
and that is one of the
most precious memories
I have of the loving father
that he was,” Lani said.
“My dad has always been
and will remain a strong
Malibu Coast Animal Hospital
23431 Pacific Coast Highway
tel:310-317-4560
www.malibuvets.com
Bill Armstrong, a longtime resident of Latigo Shore Drive
in Malibu, died late last month at the age of 103.
Photo Submitted
inspiration for me to follow
my dreams, and I am
so grateful that our father
gave us a beautiful childhood
riding horses through
the waves and feeling such
peace.”
In addition to his fulltime
career, Bill helped his
late wife, Virginia, start a
school.
“Dad always helped do
the administrative side
of running my mother’s
school, now known as the
Under the Oaks Preschool
and run by Sunshine,”
Alan said. “He was space
communications controller
for Hughes Aircraft for
30 years, retiring as administrative
controller for
Hughes’ Malibu division in
1980.”
Sunshine fondly recalled
how Armstrong was often
found walking the hillsides
along Latigo Shore at 100,
collecting rocks with worm
holes in them at 101, and
raking the seaweed off the
beach at 102.
“When he was 103, when
I would visit him in the evening,
he would often be on
his exer-cycle,” Sunshine
said. “He would say, ‘Hi,
I’m just warming up my
legs before I go to bed.’ I
will always remember him
like that.”
Bill Lawton, whom Alan
described as Bill’s “second
son,” has been a family
friend for more than six
decades.
“When school began,
I met my lifelong friend,
Alan Armstrong,” Lawton
recalled. “Soon after, I went
to the Armstrong home on
Latigo Shore Drive.
“I am sure it was on that
first visit that a garage door
was raised and I saw my
first Pierce-Arrow automobile.
Bill Armstrong had
been collecting Pierce-Arrows
since the early ’50s. I
was 7 years old and wanted
to be a member of the family
with the cool cars. Bill
was always there, doing
things with the boys. My
normal question was, ‘Can
we go for a ride?’ We usually
did!”
Many years of friendship
and camaraderie followed.
“Alan and I wanted to
drive anything with an engine,”
Lawton said. “Bill
would understand and allow
us to drive most everything.
When we were
12 years old, Bill tried to
teach us how to shift the
1920 Pierce. I would take
off in first gear and grind
trying to shift into second.
What today seems like a
thousand times Bill would
say, ‘Stop and try again.’ I
don’t know where he found
the patience.”
In January 2005, after
celebrating his 90th birthday,
Armstrong attended