Joan McCorkindale Armstrong

Joan McCorkindale Armstrong, aged 80 years, died on August 7, 2010. Born in Barrie, Ontario, Canada in 1929, Joan graduated from the Nursing Program of the prestigious Sick Children’s Hospital of Toronto, Canada. While serving as a nurse in Sacramento, CA, Joan met her husband of 49 years, the late Lt. Col. James King Armstrong. A resident of Ocean Springs since 1970, Joan retired from Ocean Springs Hospital where she served as a registered nurse. Mrs. Armstrong also worked at several other Gulf Coast medical facilities and served as the staff nurse for Ocean Springs Head Start. Following her retirement, Joan was very active in the local art community, serving as President of the Ocean Springs Art Association, supporting fellow artists, and receiving awards for her works of watercolor. Joan was preceded in death by her father and mother, Archibald and Marion Eileen McCorkindale, and a grandson, Sean Armstrong. She is survived by five children, Terry Armstrong (Lee) of Ocean Springs, Jill Seiler (Wayne) of Mexico Beach, FL; Gail Jones (Ken) of Durham, NC; John Armstrong of Ocean Springs, and David Armstrong (Tammy) of Vancleave; two step-children, Jay and Ronny Armstrong of Gresham, OR; and a brother, John McCorkindale (Dorothy), of Sausalito, CA; Joan was a proud mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, and she was very actively involved in her family’s lives. Joan was well known in the Ocean Springs and Gulf Oaks Condominium communities, and had been a volunteer at Ocean Springs Hospital, the Walter Anderson Museum of Art, The Lord is My Help, Art Who, and home care for invalids. A lifelong Anglican, Joan served as a Lay Eucharist Minister at St. John’s Episcopal Church of Ocean Springs. Joan was known throughout the community for her compassion, creativeness, and humor. A Memorial Eucharist is scheduled for 4:30 pm, Friday, August 13 at St. John’s Episcopal Church with a reception to follow after the service. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. John’s Episcopal Church, 705 Rayburn Ave., Ocean Springs, Mississippi. The Ocean Springs Chapel of Bradford O'Keefe Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.