Rossiter Andrew Armstrong, Jr. -- Financial Company Employee

 

Rossiter Andrew Armstrong, Jr.

Rossiter “Ross” Andrew Armstrong, Jr. was born on January 9, 1924 in Detroit, Michigan.  He was the only child of Rossiter Andrew Armstrong, Sr. and Virginia Belle Sholar Armstrong.  Rossiter was a native of Stewart County, Tennessee and Virginia was a native of Christian County, Kentucky. Rossiter was a carpenter who died from a tragic fall from a ladder when he was 55 years old.  Ross was a descendant of Jemima Bridges Sholar.

Ross had three half-siblings from his mother’s marriage to her second husband, Marvin Allen Guinn. They were twins born in 1928, Marvin Allen Guinn, II and Sarah Jane Guinn; and Alice Louise Guinn, born in 1931.

When Ross was very young, his family moved from Detroit to Hopkinsville where he attended various elementary schools and graduated from Hopkinsville High School in 1942.  . As it was the height of World War II, he was soon drafted into the U.S. Army.  After his basic training he was assigned to the U.S. Army Air Corp where he served at several air bases throughout the United States but he did not serve overseas.  He earned his pilot’s wings with a rank of second lieutenant. He was discharged from the army in 1945, at the end of the war.

After the war, he returned to civilian life in Hopkinsville.  On February 14, 1948, he married Martha Nell Pendleton.  Martha was born on May 29, 1927 in Julien, Kentucky and was the daughter of John and Alice Pendleton of Christian County.  Ross and Martha were the parents of one child, a son, Michael A. Armstrong who married Vickie Ripplemener.

Although Ross obtained his pilot’s license as a result of his military training, he was unable to find employment in the airline industry because of the large number of pilots available after the war. So, in 1945, Ross began his career when he partnered with a friend to open an appliance sales and repair service store in Hopkinsville.  A few years later he terminated the appliance venture and began a career with the Interstate Finance Company, also known as CreditThrift Financial Corporation and later the American General Finance Company.  Ross and his family lived in Russellville, Kentucky and finally in Evansville, Indiana in the 1950s. His career with the company lasted for 42 ½ years with Ross retiring in January 1989.

Martha died on May 15, 1977, at the age of 48, at the Welborn Baptist Hospital in Evansville.  She was buried in the Oak Hill Cemetery in Evansville.  Ross married his second wife, Beverly Ann Stearsman Alexander, on March 26, 1983.  Beverly was born on July 23, 1936 in Henderson, Kentucky and was the daughter of Waverly and Beverly Oglesby Stearsman. Ross had two step children from Beverly, Ashley Alvin Alexander, born in 1959 and Waverly Grace Alexander born in 1962.

Ross died on March 13, 2017, at the age of 93 at the Deaconess Gateway Hospital in Evansville, succumbing to pulmonary fibrosis.  Ross was cremated.

 Ross in the military during World War II

Ross and Martha with son Michael

 

Ross and Beverly

LINEAGE: (Rossiter Andrew Armstrong, Jr. was the son of Rossiter Andrew, Sr. and Virginia Belle Sholar Armstrong. Virginia was the first child of John William and Eliza Jane Steger Sholar.  John was the fourth child of Drewry Bridges and Helen Wiles Sholar.  Drewry was the tenth child of Allen and Jemima Bridges Sholar.  Jemima was the first child of Drury and Charity Cohoon Bridges.)