J. Gillespie Armstrong

Joseph Gillespie Armstrong (October 15, 1901 - April 23, 1964) was suffragan bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania from 1949 until November 7, 1960, when he was elected coadjutor. He succeeded Rt. Rev. Oliver J. Hart as Bishop of Pennsylvania when Bishop Hart retired on July 19, 1963. However Bishop Armstrong's diocescan episcopate only lasted nine months before his death.^[1]

Armstrong was born in Warren, Pennsylvania, but raised in Virginia. Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland awarded him a B.A. in 1928; after which he graduated from General Theological Seminary in 1931.

Ordained priest in 1932, Rev. Armstrong served as rector of Severn Parish (a/k/a St. Stephens Crownsville) near Annapolis, Maryland,^[2] and of Christ Church (Georgetown, Washington, D.C.), then as chaplain in the United States Navy in World War II. After his military discharge, Rev. Armstrong served several years as rector at St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Ardmore, Pennsylvania.

In 1949 the diocesan convention elected Rev. Armstrong as suffragan to assist Rt.Rev. Hart. The Presiding Bishop Henry Knox Sherrill assisted bishop Hart and bishop suffragan Remington of Pennsylvania in his consecration, as did bishops, Powell of Maryland and bishop suffragan Banyard of New Jersey.^[3] Bishop Armstrong then assisted the diocesan bishop Hart in administering the diocese for many years until Rt.Rev. Hart's retirement. On April 1, 1964, Robert L. DeWitt, suffragan bishop of Michigan, was elected as his coadjutor, and became his successor.

Bishop Armstrong died at home in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, survived by his second wife and daughters. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.^[4]

References