Eleanor Marilyn Armstrong

Eleanor Akerhielm Armstrong, 95, of Philipsburg, MT, formerly of Tucson, AZ, and Bridgman, MI, passed away on Wednesday, February 28, 2024. 

Funeral services will be held 11 am Wednesday, March 13, 2024 at Pike Funeral and Cremation Services, Boyd Chapel, 9191 Red Arrow Hwy., Bridgman. Burial will be in Graceland Cemetery, Bridgman.  As an expression of sympathy, memorial contributions may be given to Norman B. Barr Camp, Children’s Work, PO Box 70, Williams Bay, WI 53191.

Eleanor Marilyn Akerhielm was born in Chicago on October 25, 1928, to the late Albert Edward and Emy Mathilda (Anderson) Akerhielm. She was proud of her Swedish heritage, with all her grandparents being immigrants from Sweden. Eleanor lived in inner-city Chicago and loved growing up in Chicago in the 1930s and 1940s. At the tender age of eleven, she would take the elevated trains and streetcars to go downtown with her friends. Eleanor loved to play baseball in the vacant lots in the neighborhood, calling them “prairies.” She grew up playing outside until the streetlights came on, walking her German Shepard “Topsy,” participating in gymnastics, spending time swimming in the summer and ice skating in the winter with the Chicago Park District, riding her bike to the forest reserve, attending shows downtown, and going to the River View Amusement Park on Tuesdays for just two cents. Eleanor graduated high school a year early, in 1946, and attended Wilbur Wright Junior College and then Chicago State University. Eleanor’s first job was with a travel agency, but after attending CSU, she spent 24 years teaching second and third grade as well as remedial reading until her retirement. Eleanor taught ESL as a volunteer after retiring and loved every moment of it.

On a college church camp trip to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, Eleanor met the love of her life, Harvey Samuel Armstrong, when he helped the city girl light a kerosene stove. They were engaged two weeks later and married two years later on June 5, 1948. Harvey and Eleanor had two sons, Thomas Harvey and Glenn Scott, and raised their family in Lansing, Illinois. They loved to go camping and to visit the Indiana Dunes State Park. Eleanor loved to cook Swedish meals for her family – including her favorites of Swedish meatballs over mashed potatoes, sweetened brown beans, and homemade pork sausage. She also made a delicious split pea soup with ham. Eleanor and Harvey later resided in Bridgman for over twenty years, and then in Tucson, Arizona. Eleanor’s ambition in her high school yearbook was to “travel around the world” and she and Harvey certainly accomplished this goal – visiting every continent and over 100 countries. Eleanor loved to meet new people, experience new cultures, and cultivate connections with friends around the globe.

Survivors include her two sons – Tom (Sherry) Armstrong of Philipsburg, Montana, and Glenn (Sarah) Armstrong of Highland Park, Illinois; five grandchildren – Jamie (Barry) Adams, Brent (Trisha) Armstrong, Kathryn Armstrong Martin, Marion Armstrong Crump, and Christopher Armstrong; ten great-grandchildren – Dean Madley, Royce and Jenna Adams; Kenzie and Kaitlyn Armstrong; Eleanor, Vivienne, Matthew, and Nathaniel Martin; and Owen Crump; and her two nephews - Richard (Sharon) Akerhielm and Dan Akerhielm. Eleanor was preceded in death by her beloved husband, her parents, her brother, Eugene Akerhielm, and her sister-in-law, Bernice Akerhielm.

Arrangements are entrusted to Pike Funeral and Cremation Services, 9191 Red Arrow Hwy, Bridgman.