Doris Bertha Armstrong

 Doris Armstrong, daughter of Mary and Henry Sussenguth, grew up in Breckenridge, MN., died on Nov. 4 at the Mt. Olivet Home in Minneapolis. She was 91 years old.

     One of nine children who grew up during the Depression in a small family home with a big garden, Doris said she and her family shared everything, from clothes to bikes, and ate everything their mom grew in her garden. She used to say her mom told her, “never learn how to clean fish,” so she wouldn’t have to. And she didn’t. Doris often noted with pride that she was Salutatorian of her high school class.

     Doris loved to dance, which is how she met her husband Gerald James Armstrong (Jerry) of 60 years; she loved her garden; and, early in life, proudly sewed clothes for her daughter and granddaughter.  And she loved her life in Spencer, IA. She was most happy dancing Saturday nights at the old Woodcliff Ballroom.  Later in her life she enjoyed regular coffee outings and talking about current events and politics at the Center Café.

     She worked for many years at the Spencer Public Library where she fed and cared for Dewey Readmore Books, the cat who made that library famous.

Doris and Jerry had three children, Gerald Jay (Jerry) and Susan were born in Breckenridge while Brian Lynn was born in New Ulm before the family moved to Spencer.  Their son Jerry died at the age of 16 in a car accident.

     She was predeceased by her husband, son Jerry, and siblings Winifred, Marge, Harold, Hank, and Mary.

Survivors include her daughter, Susan Ritterholz and son Brian Lynn Armstrong (Suzanne Donovan); granddaughter Stephanie Abel (John Swanson), and great-grandchildren Mia and Jack Swanson; and siblings Neil Sussenguth (Val), Sally DeSantos, and Donna Johnson.

     In lieu of flowers remembrances preferred to the Spencer Public Library. 

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