Ollie Merleen Armstrong

Ollie Merleen (Tweeden) Armstrong passed away peacefully on Saturday, Sept. 2, 2017, at Valley View Home in Glasgow, Mont.

The family will hold a celebration of Ollie's life in Washington state at a later date.

She was born June 24, 1925, the only child of Amos and Ethel Tweeden in Tacoma, Wash. She was raised in Spanaway, and attended Spanaway Elementary School.

She spent much of her childhood at the home of her grandparents, Spanaway pioneers Chris and Nettie Turner. Her parents had a gas station and car lot where she learned to drive in an old wrecker out behind the station. She also loved to sneak into her father's laundry truck so she could go to the horse races with him after laundry delivery.

She attended Stewart Junior High and Lincoln High School in Tacoma, where she graduated in 1941. She went on to attend Pacific Lutheran University. She was active in swimming, skiing, school newspaper, forestry and student government.

She married Hartzell "Hank" West in 1943 while he was serving in the Navy. Together they had two children, Stormy and Sandra.

In 1954, she married Robert (Bob) Armstrong. Together, they added two more children, Mary and Patrick, to complete her wish of having four children. She taught her children to work hard, be honest, and to value family above all. She could make a dollar stretch a mile. She always found a way to get that perfect birthday and Christmas present for her children, despite being a single mother on a tight budget.

She worked as a bookkeeper for several businesses in Tacoma before she worked at both Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force base in the civil service. During that time, while she was raising her children, she attended night school, sometimes four nights a week, to finish her associate degree in accounting. She eventually became the budget office manager for Civil Engineers at McChord, retiring in 1987.

After she retired, she learned to play bridge and golf. She volunteered for 15 years at St. Clair Hospital's gift shop.

Her happiest times were spent with her children and grandchildren. She travelled extensively with daughter Sandy, and granddaughters Stephanie and Denise, eventually taking a trip to visit her grandpa Chris' birthplace in England, and her father Amos' birthplace in Norway. She enjoyed reading and playing cards, shopping with her kids and grandkids, drinking wine and martinis with her girls, and going out in the boat. She loved the water, was a great swimmer, learned to surf in Hawaii, and loved trips to the ocean. She was an avid Seattle Mariners fan, and had a beautiful home in Fircrest. The family especially loved to get together at Grandma Ollie's every Christmas Eve.

She had an amazing spirit and a wonderful sense of humor. She lived in her own home until she was 87 years old. She then lived in Long Beach, Calif., with her daughter, Sandy, and granddaughters, Stephanie and Denise, for two years before moving to Valley View Home in Glasgow.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her oldest son, Stormy West; and one grandson, Shane West.

Survivors include two daughters, Sandy Swick of Long Beach, Calif. and Mary Armstrong (John Lamb) of Glasgow; a son, Pat Armstrong and his wife, Stacy, of Wenatchee, Wash.; a daughter-in-law, Debbie Yager and her husband, Jeff; grandchildren, Kenneth Alvin Swick, Jr. and his wife, Roberta, Stephanie Swick (Denise Tonini), Neil Good and his wife, Danielle, Jeremy West and his wife, Charlene, Daniel Russell, Reilly Armstrong and Jacob, Joshua and his wife, Soeni, Zack and his wife, Melanie, and John Ross Lamb; great-grandchildren, Keith Swick and his wife, Jen, Jeff Swick and his wife, Meghan, Griffin and Alexandria Swick, Dylan Good and his wife, Leanna, and Destinee Becknerf; and three great-great-grandchildren, Taya and Neve Swick and Oliver Good.