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By MICHAEL ZITZ
One of the last links to a kinder, gentler era in Fredericksburg is gone.
Former vice mayor and longtime city councilman W. Sidney Armstrong died at his home yesterday at the age of 93.
The Rev. Lawrence A. Davies, a former mayor of Fredericksburg who worked closely with Armstrong and will deliver the eulogy at his funeral, recalled that his political allies and foes alike "called him 'The Virginia Gentleman.'"
"Everyone always knew he would go out of his way to be fair in the decisions he made and in the treatment he gave to people, no matter who they were," Davies said.
H. William Greenup unseated Armstrong in 1988, after 36 years of service, by a margin of 18 votes in a three-way race for two at-large council positions.
Always the gentleman, the then-76-year-old Armstrong graciously declined to seek a recount.
"As pleased as I was to be elected," Greenup said at the time, "I was sorry to see the end of the career of Sidney Armstrong."
Yesterday, former Councilman Gordon W. Shelton, who sometimes opposed Armstrong politically, remembered that 1988 election and said he fully expected there would be a recount. Shelton said he was "real, real, real surprised."
But Shelton said he didn't think the courtly Armstrong liked the sometimes rough-edged and rude way politics was evolving here.
"Politics changed," Shelton said.
Armstrong was the eldest of five children. His father was a wood buyer for L.A. Clarke & Son, his mother a clerk at the Boston Variety Store.
As a boy, he spent many hours at his grandfather's boarding house on William Street.
He caddied at what is now the Fredericksburg Country Club.
He played trombone at pep rallies at James Monroe High School and sang "Would God I Were a Tender Apple Blossom" at the dedication of the gym and auditorium at Maury School.
Armstrong was a Navy veteran of World War II, and a member of Elks Lodge No. 875, the Masons, the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
He was a longtime member of the Fredericksburg Volunteer Fire Department and served as its president.
He was a member of Historic Fredericksburg Foundation Inc., and his encyclopedic memory of city events was a valuable resource to both the City Council and HFFI, friends said.
Armstrong owned and operated two local Sunoco stations.
"Sidney ran the filling station," Shelton said. "He was a good ol' boy. He'd fix something for somebody and sometimes he'd charge 'em, and sometimes he wouldn't. He knew everybody in town."
When Shelton was elected to the council in 1978, Armstrong was already a 25-year veteran and the comfortable, small-town era was already coming to an end.
No matter how heated political battles grew, Armstrong would never show anger or act out of animosity, Shelton said.
But he said Armstrong never stopped fighting hard for issues in which he believed.
"In my estimation, he was one of the finest councilmen ever," Shelton said. "He did his homework. He went way beyond the extra mile. I learned a lot from him."
Shelton credited Armstrong, who chaired the council's Utilities Committee, with "laying the groundwork" of infrastructure to accommodate the inevitable growth of Fredericksburg.
Mayor Tom Tomzak called Armstrong "a dedicated public servant."
"He was very hardworking, very diligent and always tried to do what was best for the city," Tomzak said.
Armstrong is survived by his wife, Frances Armstrong, and a brother, Minor D. Armstrong, both of Fredericksburg, and seven nephews.
A funeral will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Fredericksburg United Methodist Church, where Armstrong was a member, with the Rev. Larry E. Lenow officiating.
Mullins & Thompson Funeral Service is handling funeral arrangements.
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