|
Died at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany, on Oct. 6, of a non-combat related illness identified on Oct. 5, as he was returning from leave status and preparing to redeploy to Afghanistan. |
| Rochester
Democrat and Chrinicle
Sgt. Moses Armstead dies at 44 in Germany
Madison graduate was bound for redeployment in Afghanistan
Meaghan M. McDermott
Staff writer
(October 13, 2005) — Friends and family say Sgt. Moses E. Armstead was the kind of man who made friends easily, reached out to others and always put those he loved first.
"I met him when we lived on post at Fort Knox. All the kids there loved him," said friend Lessie Grace of Tennessee. "When he'd pull up in the parking lot, all the neighborhood kids would come out and surround him. They all went to him when their bikes were broken."
Sgt. Armstead, with the Army's 16th Ordnance Battalion, died Oct. 6 of a heart attack at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. He was 44. He had just returned from leave and was preparing to redeploy to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
Sgt. Armstead was the youngest of eight children born to Ella Mae and William Armstead in Bartow, Fla. The family moved to Rochester when Sgt. Armstead was a youngster.
He graduated from James Madison High School in 1978 and joined the Army in 1985. He met his wife, Tonya, while both served at the National Guard Armory on Culver Road.
"He was really loving and adventurous," said Tonya Armstead of Aberdeen, Md.
The couple married on Nov. 21, 1988, and had three children.
After basic training in 1985, Sgt. Armstead became an Army machinist, serving at Fort Knox, Ky.; in the Republic of Korea; and at Fort Campbell, Ky. In July 1999, he was assigned to Aberdeen Proving Ground in Aberdeen, Md., where he served as an instructor/writer, annex chief and test control officer, Grace said. He was deployed to Afghanistan in July 2005.
"He was a builder. He was brilliant and could fix anything," said his wife, adding that since her husband's death, she's been learning daily of the many quiet ways he touched the lives of others. "A man just came to my door and told me Moses gave him a car and a computer."
But family always came first. Tonya Armstead said they'd vacation at least three times a year, letting their children pick places from a map to visit.
Sgt. Armstead is predeceased by his father, William Armstead of Rochester. In addition to his wife, he is survived by five sisters and two brothers; sons Jaspen, Daylin and Llandyn of Maryland and Moses Armstead Jr. of Tennessee; and daughter Dominique Armstead of Rochester. Calling hours will be from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday at the D.M. Williams Funeral Home, 785 Elmgrove Road. A service will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Faith Deliverance Christian Fellowship, 94 Central Park. |
