Funeral services will be 2 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Baptist Church with the Rev. Robert Mattson officiating. Burial will follow at Bellwood Memorial Park. Visitation will be 6-8 p.m. today at Scanio-Harper Funeral Home.
During her tenure at Scott & White, Mrs. Armstrong epitomized nursing excellence as a role model and mentor for 32 years. When she retired as assistant administrator for nursing services in 1998, she headed a 1,400-member nursing staff in the hospital and 18 regional clinics, which tallied more than 1 million patient visits annually throughout the Scott & White system.
Carol Morisset, director of Scott & White’s safety compliance department, was a longtime friend and colleague. “Peggy hired most of us nurses here at Scott & White. She was a role model who always did what was best for the patient. She was so respected because she was fair. She helped so many people.”
Becky Adams, research manager, agreed. “You could go to her with anything and she would keep it confidential. We appreciated her.”
Born July 29, 1931, in Temple, she was the daughter of Roy Charles and Edna Inez Smith Atkinson. She married William R. Armstrong in Temple.
In 1951, she graduated from the Scott & White School of Nursing, then a diploma program, and worked as a staff nurse until 1953. Mrs. Armstrong worked with and learned nursing administration from Anna Laura Cole, the director of Scott & White nursing for nearly 40 years.
Mrs. Armstrong then earned a bachelor of nursing degree from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston in 1955 before returning to Scott & White as evening house supervisor in 1966.
In 1982 she received a master’s in health administration from Southwest Texas State in San Marcos (now called Texas State University) and later received nursing administration certification from the American Nurses Association. Rising up through the administrative ranks, she was promoted to assistant administrator for nursing in 1989.
Mrs. Armstrong held memberships and offices in the Texas Nurses Association, American Nurses Association, Texas Organization of Nurse Executives and American Organization of Nurse Executives.
The flags in front of the hospital will be lowered to half-staff in honor of Mrs. Armstrong’s years of dedicated service to Scott & White.
“Peggy touched many lives in her 42 years of service at Scott & White,” said Donny Sequin, Scott & White’s chief operating officer. “Her broad smile, quick wit and ability to tell engaging stories complemented her compassion, intelligence and love for her fellow nurses, co-workers and patients. Earlier this year, Peggy was nominated and was chosen as one of the Top 25 nurses at Scott & White. She will be greatly missed by those who were privileged to know her.”
In 1991, Mrs. Armstrong spoke on the future of nursing, which 17 years later, seems prophetic. “Hospital stays for surgical patients will decrease in length, which will increase the demand for home health nurses,” she said. “Nurses will have to become teachers.”
She urged colleges to include more gerontology courses to better meet the demands of a rapidly aging population. “Twenty to 30 years ago, there was a lot of home nursing,” Mrs. Armstrong said. “And when people start going home two days after surgery, (home health) nurses will be needed again.”
On her retirement from Scott & White in 1998, her friends and colleagues established the Peggy Armstrong scholarship for registered nurses seeking master’s degrees in nursing administration. After retirement, she returned to Scott & White in 2001 in the clinical studies department, assisting with nursing research.
“She could work as much as she wanted, and usually worked full-time,” Ms. Morisset said.
She served on the Nursing Education Boards at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and at Temple College. She also served on the Temple College Vocational Nurses Advisory Committee, the UMHB Consumer Advisory Committee and the UTMB School of Nursing Alumni Association.
Survivors include her husband, William R. Armstrong of Temple; a daughter, Nancy Armstrong Swanzy of Temple; a son, William Charles Armstrong of Belton; one sister, Karen Hobday of Belton; five grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.
Memorials may be made to Memorial Baptist Church, 6161 S. Fifth St., Temple, Texas 76502 or the Peggy Armstrong Nursing Scholarship Fund, in care of Scott & White Hospital, 2401 S. 31st St., Temple, Texas 76508.
Scanio-Harper Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
