[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 1522-1523]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      IN MEMORY OF TONY ARMSTRONG

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I rise today, to honor the memory of a great 
Nevadan, Tony Armstrong, who passed away last Saturday morning.
  Tony was the mayor of the town of Sparks, NV, and I had the privilege 
of working with him in that capacity.
  But I rise today not to praise Tony Armstrong the mayor, even though 
he was a great mayor.
  I want to praise Tony Armstrong the husband, the father, the friend, 
the neighbor.
  I rise to praise Tony Armstrong the man who made a positive 
impression on everyone he met, through the force of an engaging 
personality that reflected his basic love of people.
  Tony spent most of his life in Sparks. He was born in Philadelphia, 
but his family moved to northern California when he was a toddler, and 
settled in Sparks when Tony was 4 years old.
  Tony attended school in Sparks, and when he graduated high school he 
joined the Nevada Air National Guard. After serving on active duty for 
several years, he returned to Washoe County in 1973 and got a job as a 
building inspector.
  In 1983 he married Debbie Rimby, and a couple of years later he 
started his own contracting company, which later became a private 
inspection firm.
  He first ran for public office in 1987, when he failed to win 
election to the Sparks City Council. But like many of us who have lost 
elections, he learned from that experience and it strengthened his 
determinaton. He came back 2 years later and won a seat on the city 
council. Ten years after that, in 1999, the people of Sparks elected 
him as their mayor.
  He was a popular mayor, guided always by his love of Sparks, his 
appreciation of the city's history, and his vision for the future.
  Tony worked to preserve the best aspects of Sparks, the friendly 
atmosphere that make it such a wonderful place to raise a family, and 
at the same time, improve the services and amenities.
  He realized that the great quality of life in northern Nevada meant 
that Sparks would continue to grow, and he worked to manage that growth 
so it would benefit the citizens of the city.
  During the 14 years that he served as a city councilman and mayor, 
Sparks grew from a sleepy little railroad town to a city that is home 
to about 80,000 people.
  He oversaw the development of a project called Victorian Square, 
which preserves and revitalizes a historic area, and the Sparks Marina. 
I had the privilege of working with him on that marina project.
  He was a tireless champion for his city. Sparks and Reno share a 
convention center and airport, and Tony Armstrong was constantly 
working to

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make sure Sparks wasn't overshadowed by its larger neighbor.
  Tony also spearheaded the Sparks Centennial Commission, which is 
celebrating the city's 100th birthday this year.
  There is no question that the city will miss his leadership. And the 
people of Sparks will miss Tony's warm smile and his friendly 
conversation.
  The man who preceded him as mayor, Bruce Breslow, put it simply. ``He 
made everyone around him feel important,'' he said of Tony.
  Another friend, Mary Henderson, said, ``His smile was as bright as a 
northern Nevada sunrise.''
  Mary Humphries met Tony last spring, when they both welcomed 
attendees to a Sertoma convention in Sparks. After sitting with him for 
half an hour, she felt as if they had been friends for years.
  Tony's daughter has multiple sclerosis, and 2 years ago at an MS 
walk, he struck up a conversation with Steve Mattos, a Reno man whose 
wife also has the disease. Tony told Steve that he was taking his 
daughter to Stanford Medical Center for some experimental tests, and 
Steve asked him to pass along any information that might be helpful. 
From that day forward, Tony regularly sent e-mail updates to a man he 
had met in person only that one time.
  Another person who will never forget Tony is Tina Cline. Her husband, 
Marine LCpl Donald Cline, was killed in Iraq in 2003. At his memorial 
service, a tearful Tony introduced himself to Tina, hugged her and gave 
her his home phone number. After Tony's death last weekend, Mrs. Cline 
posted a message on the web site of the Reno Gazette Journal. ``He has 
been one of the most helpful men I have ever known,'' she said.
  Those are just some of the ways the people of Sparks will remember 
Tony Armstrong. He was only 59, and his death from complications after 
surgery was a blow to everyone who knew him.
  Tony is survived by Debby, his wife of 21 years; his sons Richard and 
Keith; his daughter Misti Franco; four grandchildren, and three 
brothers. Please join me in offering condolences to them on the loss of 
their loved one.
  Tony Armstrong will be missed by many people in many ways, but our 
memories of him will never be extinguished.

                          ____________________