Obituary of R. Donald Armiger, Jr.

Richard Donald Armiger, Jr., a 48 year resident of Darien, died in Norwalk CT on Wednesday, February 19th at the age of 82. The son of the late Richard Donald Armiger and Bernice Nordby Armiger, Don was born in Takoma Park Maryland on July 7, 1931. He grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland where he graduated from Montgomery Blair High School in 1949. In his youth he was a skilled athlete. He was a sailor and an equestrian who enjoyed show jumping and fox hunting. As a baseball player, he was a strong hitter who threw an excellent knuckle ball, one that earned him a spot on the Philadelphia Athletics' farm team in Easton, Maryland. On the advice of his father who noted his lack of a major league fastball, Don chose not to continue in baseball and enrolled at Marietta College, where he studied for a year before entering the Coast Guard in 1950. He served as an officer on a buoy tender, the cutter U.S.S. Evergreen, in the North Atlantic and later as an instructor of maritime etiquette. In 1954, he returned to Marietta and graduated in 1957 with a B.A. in philosophy and creative writing. He began his forty-year career in Human Resources working at Western Electric, Melpar, Inc. in Falls Church, Virginia, and Vitro Laboratories in Silver Spring, Maryland, before joining Citibank in New York City in 1965. At Citibank, where he worked until his retirement in 1996, he was a Vice President of Human Resources with senior responsibilities both internationally and in the US. Don married his wife Ann in 1963. They moved to Darien in 1965, where they raised two children and lived until 2013. He was a member of Noroton Yacht Club where he was actively involved in the cruising and junior sailing programs. During his retirement years, he continued his lifelong passion for sailing and great appreciation for classic boat design. Love of the sea drew him to the coast of Maine where he spent much of his time in the last fifteen years at his home in South Bristol. He will be remembered for his distinctive sense of humor and independent spirit, his devotion to family and his loyal dogs, his love of music and the Boston Red Sox. He is survived by his wife of fifty years, Ann Wold Armiger; his daughter, Jessie Armiger Moynihan, and her husband, Timothy, of Lincoln, Massachusetts; his son, Benjamin Nordby Armiger, and his wife, Shelley, of Chestertown, Maryland; his sister, Susan Popescu, of Bethesda, Maryland, and his brother, G. Kent Armiger, of Chestertown, Maryland. He leaves behind three grandchildren: Alice and Sophie Moynihan and Benjamin River Armiger. A memorial service will be held Friday, February 28, at 2 p.m. at Saint Luke's Parish, 1846 Post Road, Darien. Memorial contributions may be made to the Damariscotta River Association, P.O. Box 333, Damariscotta, ME 04543 (online at dra@damariscottariver.org) or Mystic Seaport, 75 Greenmanville Avenue, Mystic, CT 06355. www.lawrencefuneralhome.com Funeral Home: Edward Lawrence Funeral Home 2119 Post Road Darien, CT USA 06820