Madelyn E. Armstrong (1941-2024)

Madelyn E. Armstrong, 83, of Bedford, MA, died July 22, 2024 after a brief illness. A resident of Carleton-Willard Village in Bedford, MA Madelyn was the daughter of the late James William and Muriel Sanborn Armstrong. Madelyn grew up in Wilton, Maine, attending Wilton Schools before heading to Smith College. After college Madelyn lived in the Greater Boston area, applying her training and interest in mathematics toward a career in business, ultimately managing Systems Analysts in Trust and Investment Banking.

Madelyn's passions included music, especially Early and Classical music, travel and books. Music included both listening and singing, having sung most major works with the Berkshire Choral Institute over the course of 20 years, the Cambridge MA auditioned chorus Spectrum Singers for 8 years, and church choirs for 30 years. Travel took her from Machu Pichu in Peru and the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador to most countries in Western and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and many states in the United States from Maine to Florida to California and Alaska. Travel to the past, the future and to other worlds was accomplished through her love of books, from well-written children's classics, to the imaginative pens of science fiction writers Isaac Asimov and Ray Bradbury, to the rich prose of Charles Dickens.

Known for her intelligence, enthusiasm, sense of humor, commitment to justice, and gentle encouragement to all she encountered she made a lasting impression on everyone who met her.

Her favorite quote was from Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451":

"Granger stood looking back with Montag. "Everyone must leave something behind when he dies," my grandfather said. "A child, or a book, or a painting, or a house, or a wall built, or a pair of shoes made. Or a garden planted. Something your hand touched some way so your soul has somewhere to go when you die, and when people look at that tree or that flower you planted, you're there. It doesn't matter what you do," he said, "so long as you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something that's like you after you take your hands away."

Madelyn was predeceased by her brother Richard William Armstrong of Wilton, ME. She is survived by her brother James Foster Armstrong of Oakland, CA and by 7 adoring nieces and nephews and 7 way above average grand-nieces and nephews and her long-time friend and travel companion Judi Vidmark of Roswell, GA.

A Memorial Service to celebrate her life will be held on Monday, August 19 at 2:30 p.m. at Carleton-Willard Village, 100 Old Billerica Road, Bedford, MA  01730.

Donations in her honor can be made to: Carleton-Willard Employee Appreciation Fund (Carleton-Williard Village Employee Appreciation Fund - Carleton-Willard Village, 100 Old Billerica Road, Bedford, MA 01730).