Elizabeth M. Armbrust
February 26, 2009
Elizabeth M. Armbrust, 90, of Bricktown, New Jersey, passed away on
Thursday at the Laurelton Village Nursing Home, Bricktown, NJ.
She was the widow of William C. Armbrust who died on June 13, 1973.
She was born on Dec. 31, 1918, in Scranton, the daughter of the late John
and Marjorie Swingle Creider. She
was a graduate of Scranton Technical High School and Duke University, Durham,
NC, Class of 1941. After graduating
college with a Bachelor of Arts & Sciences in Education, Betty taught High
School English and French in North Carolina and later on in Long Island, NY.
Around 1945 she returned to Scranton and worked as a buyer at the
Scranton Dry Goods Store. In 1946
she married William C. Armbrust of Wheeler Avenue.
The couple had three children and from 1948 to 1957 she devoted herself
to homemaking and raising her children.
In 1957 she returned to teaching and continued for fifteen years as a
substitute school teacher for the Scranton School District and the Dunmore
School District. During this time
she completed several long-term substitute teaching assignments.
After the death of her husband in 1973, Betty worked as a secretary for
the YWCA of Scranton and later at the Women’s Resource Center of Lackawanna
County. She retired in 1978. In 1995
she moved to Hazlet, NJ. In 2004,
after a period of declining health, she became a resident of the Laurelton
Village Nursing Home in Bricktown, NJ.
All of her life Mrs. Armbrust was a devout Christian.
She was a member of the Elm Park United Methodist Church for fifty plus
years and was also active in the St. John’s United Methodist Church after moving
to New Jersey. Betty enjoyed attending the worship services and Bible Study
Groups. For several years she sang
in the church choir at Elm Park Church.
She was active on many of the church committees.
During her retirement years she was a volunteer at the Elm Park Church,
weekly at the Bread Basket and Clothing Exchange.
She was also a volunteer Reader at the Commission for the Blind in
downtown Scranton. Betty was an
accomplished pianist and for a number of years she taught piano to her children
and the children of friends and neighbors.
She enjoyed spending time with family, working crossword puzzles, baking
Welsh Cookies, watching baseball games and tennis matches on TV, and going on
trips.
She was a devoted mother, beloved grandmother and great-grandmother.
She is survived by her sons John C. Armbrust of Weston, Florida, Robert
W. Armbrust of Bricktown, New Jersey; her daughter, Bonnie L. Doebley of
Millville, New Jersey; five grandchildren and several great grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband, William C. Armbrust, a veteran
of World War II, an employee for the Delaware & Lackawanna Railroad and later
the Pennsylvania Gas & Water Company, and her sister, Virginia Koch from the
Hyde Park section of Scranton.
The funeral will be on Monday in the Miller Bean Funeral Home, Inc., 436
Cedar Avenue, with Services at 10 a.m.
Interment will be in Abington Hills Cemetery, South Abington Township.
