John "Jack" Armstrong

John "Jack" Armstrong, 82, of Grand Ridge passed away peacefully on Monday (January 7, 2019) at Pleasant View Lutheran Home, Ottawa, IL.

A visitation will be held Friday, January 11 from 3 to 7 p.m. at the Grand Ridge Funeral Home.  A private family funeral mass will be said at St. Mary of the Fields Church, Grand Ridge and burial will be in the Grand Ridge Cemetery.

Jack was born on October 31, 1936 in Grand Ridge to Lincoln and Mary (Kuhn) Armstrong.  He married Jean Corrigan on July 20, 1963.  She survives.

Also surviving is a daughter Julie (Mike) Stricklin of Grand Ridge, grandson Jake (Jonni Rowe) Stricklin of Grand Ridge, siblings Bob (Ila) Armstrong of Ransom, Sara (Frank) Diss of Ransom, Pat (Don) Hayne of Grand Ridge and Ed (Sherrie) Armstrong of New Hampshire, as well as many nieces, nephews and good friends. He is preceded in death by his parents.

After Jack graduated from Streator High School in 1954, he joined the U.S. Army and later returned to farm in the Grand Ridge area for the rest of his life. He was a member of St. Mary of the Fields Church in Grand Ridge. He enjoyed fishing and working with his grandson, Jake, in the shop at the farm.

Memorials may be made to either the Grand Ridge Fire Department or to the family for future charitable donations.

How blessed we are to have had someone so wonderful that it makes saying goodbye so hard. He was a friend to everyone and cherished his family. We will miss his smile and that little wink.

"God looked down on his planned paradise and said, 'I need a caretaker' so God made a farmer. Somebody who'd bale a family together with the soft strong bonds of sharing, who would laugh and then sigh, and then reply, with smiling eyes, when his (grand)son says he wants to spend his life 'doing what (grandpa) does." So God made a farmer. (Credit: Paul Harvey)