Ira "Pat" was the son of John Andrew Armstrong and Nancy C. L. D. Breeden. He was born in a sod house in Shiloh, Jones County, Texas. When he was just a few months old, the family moved to Donna, Hidalgo County, Texas. He was only 5 when his mother died. His father had trouble raising 6 children without his wife so in 1922, Pat, with 3 of his brothers and sisters were sent to live with their maternal grandparents in Johnston County OK. He attended Emet Church and was baptized there about 1922. Pat worked on the farm and learned to tinker with tractor and car engines. In 1928 he left the farm and spent a couple of years riding trains and finding work in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. In 1932, he joined the cavalry and was stationed near Brownsville TX. Pat moved around a lot. He lived in Donna TX and Emet OK after his release from the cavalry. While living in Corpus Christi he worked in sanitation and at the Naval Air Station. He was drafted in 1942 and was assigned to the Pacific Theater serving in New Guinea, the Philippines and Australia. He used his carpentry skills constructing buildings and bridges. At the end of the war, he moved to Mena Arkansas and ran a turkey farm. He wasn't very successful and in 1948 he moved to Fort Worth with his brother. He spent a lot of time with his sister and nephew in Corpus Christi. It was here that Pat fell in love and decided to end his long bachelorhood (he was 42) by marrying his nephew's sister-in-law. He and Betty settled in Fort Worth where his daughters Kay and Karen were born. He worked at Convair and as a trim carpenter at Sabine Valley but preferred to work outdoors. He worked for many years as a self-employed contractor doing roof decking and gyprock on new houses in Tarrant County. He worked for Eddie London, B. J. Reaves, J. B. Sandlin, Norman Kilgore and others. After Betty's death in 1987, he married a childhood friend, his brother's sister-in-law, and moved to Mena AR. After his wife was moved to a nursing home, he lived with his daughter and attended Birdville church of Christ. He died in 2001 less than 4 months before his 90th birthday.
Ira "Pat" was the son of John Andrew Armstrong and Nancy C. L. D. Breeden. He was born in a sod house in Shiloh, Jones County, Texas. When he was just a few months old, the family moved to Donna, Hidalgo County, Texas. He was only 5 when his mother died. His father had trouble raising 6 children without his wife so in 1922, Pat, with 3 of his brothers and sisters were sent to live with their maternal grandparents in Johnston County OK. He attended Emet Church and was baptized there about 1922. Pat worked on the farm and learned to tinker with tractor and car engines. In 1928 he left the farm and spent a couple of years riding trains and finding work in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. In 1932, he joined the cavalry and was stationed near Brownsville TX. Pat moved around a lot. He lived in Donna TX and Emet OK after his release from the cavalry. While living in Corpus Christi he worked in sanitation and at the Naval Air Station. He was drafted in 1942 and was assigned to the Pacific Theater serving in New Guinea, the Philippines and Australia. He used his carpentry skills constructing buildings and bridges. At the end of the war, he moved to Mena Arkansas and ran a turkey farm. He wasn't very successful and in 1948 he moved to Fort Worth with his brother. He spent a lot of time with his sister and nephew in Corpus Christi. It was here that Pat fell in love and decided to end his long bachelorhood (he was 42) by marrying his nephew's sister-in-law. He and Betty settled in Fort Worth where his daughters Kay and Karen were born. He worked at Convair and as a trim carpenter at Sabine Valley but preferred to work outdoors. He worked for many years as a self-employed contractor doing roof decking and gyprock on new houses in Tarrant County. He worked for Eddie London, B. J. Reaves, J. B. Sandlin, Norman Kilgore and others. After Betty's death in 1987, he married a childhood friend, his brother's sister-in-law, and moved to Mena AR. After his wife was moved to a nursing home, he lived with his daughter and attended Birdville church of Christ. He died in 2001 less than 4 months before his 90th birthday.
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