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Mettawa trustee remembered as 'humble man'

Jess Ray knew exactly who to call to help him out of a jam after a night of heavy snow in Mettawa a few years ago.

Ray's snowblower wasn't working, and his car was stuck in the driveway. So he phoned Bill Armstrong, the kind of guy who was "not afraid to pitch in and get his hands dirty" in the small Lake County town of about 545.

Armstrong came through and brought his own snowblower to Ray's house. He must have walked "four football fields" in the snow, said Ray, a former mayor.

"The one thing that I always appreciate about Bill the most is he always had my back, and that kind of loyalty you just can't say enough about," Ray said.

Armstrong, a Mettawa trustee, died Friday from viral pneumonia. He was 67.

"He was available to people," said Carol Armstrong, his wife of 23 years. "He just was a very kind, gentle, humble man."

During his tenure on the village board, he regularly sought feedback from residents before forming his own opinion on an issue. Even in the winter, he would knock on doors, wearing his trademark black cowboy hat.

"He had a very engaging personality," Ray said Saturday. "And he always had on a smile on his face. It made it easy for people to talk to him."

Voters elected Ray as mayor - and Armstrong and John Maier as trustees - in 2009. They had formed a slate called the Mettawa Transparency Party, all challengers who had campaigned against the village's handling of the Costco development on village-owned land.

Armstrong was re-elected to a second term in 2013.

"The fairness of how people were treated in the village was his utmost priority," said Ray, who stepped down after one term.

Armstrong was born in Libertyville and attended Libertyville High School. He graduated from Northwestern University.

Before retiring about six years ago, Armstrong worked at the U.S. Military Entrance Processing Command in North Chicago. He brought the skills he learned from that job to his other pursuits, his wife said.

Besides his role in village government, Armstrong was the former chairman of the COVE (Children's Outreach and Vocational Education) Alliance, a nonprofit group that provides housing and education for orphaned and poor children in Uganda.

Armstrong also was a member of the Libertyville Masonic Lodge.

"If he could make a difference, he wanted to at least try," Carol Armstrong said.

Armstrong mentored their three children - Tom Lorenz, Tammie Smith and Karen Barrie - and grandchildren. He was "totally involved" in every facet of their lives and instilled a love of cooking and poetry, Carol Armstrong said.

"It's endless. It's just endless what he has done for so many people in his life," she said.

Visitation will be held 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at McMurrough Funeral Chapel, 101 Park Place, in Libertyville and 9 to 10 a.m. Wednesday at St. Mary of Vernon Catholic Church in Indian Creek.

A funeral Mass will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at St. Mary of Vernon. Burial will be at Ivanhoe Cemetery in Mundelein.

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