Former Portadown College principal Harry Armstrong remembered as a man of deep faith and an encouraging educationalist

Rector of Seagoe Parish Church, Rev Canon Terence Cadden, spoke of Mr Armstrong as someone who influenced a “countless number of lives”.

"I loved that about Harry. It was not about grades but about the ability and about everyone trying to reach their level to the best of their ability,” he said.

Rev Cadden described Mr Armstrong as someone who always had an interest in the individual and who longed for that individual “to blossom into the person they are capable of becoming”.

Late of Margretta Park, Portadown, he passed away peacefully on March 1 in Craigavon Area Hospital after a short illness.

The rector said he considered it a personal privilege to have known Mr Armstrong through his long involvement with Seagoe Parish Church.

Describing him as “a servant of God”, Rev Cadden said so many people were indebted to him for his service to the church over the years, while serving in the Select Vestry, as a Church Warden and in the “thankless but extremely important” role in the Counting Team.

"He was a most gracious man, always very pleasant and appreciative of everything being done, and someone we will miss deeply,” said the rector.

He said Mr Armstrong had made a commitment to Christ at the age of 17 through a Crusaders youth group in Derry.

The rector reflected, how just prior to his death, Mr Armstrong had spoken to him about his faith and how he felt he had not always “preached it” in a public way.

"I told him it was the way he lived it out, as a witness to the Lord. He lived out a Christian life and lived it to the full,” said Rev Cadden.

Born in Derry on March 10, 1930, Mr Armstrong was the eldest of four children and enjoyed a carefree early life in the Derry and Donegal areas. He was educated at Foyle Grammar School, where he developed a passion for rugby and built a number of lifelong friendships.

After completing a degree in French and English at Trinity College, he became a teacher, with his first post at Omagh Academy. This is where he first met Doreen Brown, whom he married in July 1956. .

Mr Armstrong took up a teaching post in Limavady Grammar School and the couple set up home in that area. A decision to move into education management brought him to Armagh where he worked with Jack Dickson at the Southern Education and Library Board to establish the Dickson Plan which transformed the delivery of secondary education in the area.

Until his death, Mr Armstrong was the last remaining survivor of that development team.

Mourners were told he loved his 20 years at Portadown College, which he joined in 1973, and his interest in the school continued right to the end of his life.

His son Alan shared how the former principal was excited about Portadown College’s forthcoming centenary celebrations.

"I would have been 94 on March 10 and joked he was almost as old as the school,” he said.

Mourners at Sunday’s funeral heard Mr Armstrong described a man not motivated by money or materialistic things, but were told he was “more than content with his lot”.

A keen gardener, he took pride in his meticulously planned and immaculately maintained plot, in which he grew many vegetable varieties.

He enjoyed the company of his family, always encouraging them and being generous of his time. He was a beloved husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather.

Mr Armstrong’s married life with Doreen over 67 years was “filled with love, mutural respect and fun” and he was “devoted” to her, mourners were told.

They also learned that Sunday afternoon’s funeral had been meticulously planned by Mr Armstrong, including all the hymns, readings and prayers.

"He was well prepared and ready to leave this life and part of it was the thought that he put in to this funeral service,” Rev Cadden said.

“His faith was always very important to him and he had a quiet and practical attitude to life and death.,” adding that even when faced with ill health, Mr Armstrong was “the same gracious gentleman”.

“Faith guided him in life. In recent days he very clearly expressed what a wonderful life he had and he had no fear in dying,” the rector added.

Mr Armstrong’s deep faith was reflected in the funeral service, including by his choice of hymns such as ‘Guide me o thou Great Jehovah’, ‘Great is Thy faithfulness’ and ‘Thine be the glory’.

Scripture readings were given by two of his grandchildren, Andrew and Anna, and grandson Robbie received applause for a poem he had written in honour of a grandfather who was “an inspiring example”.

Following the funeral service, a private family committal was held in the adjoining churchyard.

Donations in lieu of flowers are welcome, if desired, for the benefit of Cancer Focus NI and Alzheimer’s Society via www.milnefuneralservices.co.uk/donate or cheques made payable to Milne Funeral Services donations account c/o 59 Seagoe Road, Portadown BT63 5HS.

A family notice said Mr Armstrong is “Lovingly remembered by his wife Doreen, sons Neale, Alan and Keith, daughters Judith, Lynne and Claire and the entire family circle.”

Many tributes have been paid to Mr Armstrong online since his passing, including from Portadown College, where he was principal from 1973 to 1993.

“The Governors and Staff of Portadown College are deeply saddened at the passing of our most esteemed former Principal, Mr Harry Armstrong,” a College spokesperson wrote.

“The thoughts and prayers of the College community are with the Armstrong family at this sorrowful time. Fortiter et Humaniter.”