David Edward Armstrong

  General Notes:

From The Ottawa Citizen

Dr. David E. Ph.D. July 24, 1953 - September 24, 2016
An asteroid hit Ottawa last weekend and David Armstrong was the guy who saw it. David E. Armstrong died very quickly on the morning of Saturday, September 24 in the arms of his wife. He had a massive brain aneurysm. In the hours that followed, David's liver and lungs were transplanted into people who gained new life. Others will receive his corneas, pancreatic islets, skin and bone.

Deeply saddened by his death are his mother, Audrey Giles, sister Janet (Chuck) Giles, their children Mary Anne (Jennifer), Brad and Heather, and his great-nephew Parker. Lucy (Bobby), Ian (Jenna) and Angus Mortimer mourn the loss of their stepfather and friend, along with Nykka and Teddy who loved their "David." His beloved wife Elizabeth Elton smiles through tears while remembering his wonderful life, along with colleagues and friends all over the world.

After travelling across Canada with the Geodetic Survey, David started a long and productive period of academic study at York University and the University of Southern California, culminating in a PhD in ethics. Along the way he taught hundreds of students, who remember a resourceful and entertaining teacher with a sharp logical mind and wicked sense of humour. His book, subtitled "Drinking with the Dead" was a groundbreaking study in comparative religion. David became an archaeologist and worked for several summers as a square supervisor and coordinator on the dig at Tel Megiddo in Israel.

He was an extraordinary guitarist who could take a guitar and fill the room and everyone in it with his love of the music. David, with his then-wife Aditi, were Widening Gyre, a Celtic duo that performed widely in Texas and beyond and recorded a self-titled CD.

In Ottawa, David was best known as a bookseller at Collected Works bookstore. In 2013, he and Elizabeth went to China where David was a professor at Jilin University-Lambton College. Back in Canada, he continued to perform, teach and mentor other musicians, and work as a sound guy with his best friend Dave O'Heare. From his usual place on the floor in the middle of the room, wearing mismatched socks, David was the quiet leader of hundreds of folk song circles.

There will be a huge concert and celebration of David Armstrong in November, details to be determined. Meanwhile, you can honour him by registering as an organ donor, being kind and singing a song. Donations to Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) are also appropriate. - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/ottawacitizen/obituary.aspx?n=david-e-armstrong&pid=181690501#sthash.gSrPPRY1.dpuf

David married Elizabeth Elton.