One of Chaves County’s most notable and beloved educators, Judy Armstrong, died on Friday, Feb. 23. She was provost at the Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell (ENMU-R) from 2002 to 2008 after a 35-year career at the school.
Originally from St. Louis, Armstrong moved to Roswell with her family in 1956. Arriving during a dust storm, Armstrong told the Daily Record in 2016 that she originally had doubts about the move, but seeing the gleaming snow-covered peaks to the west calmed her fears.
“The next morning was one of those great days when that sky is that gorgeous blue, and the mountain was up there like a big white diamond, all snow flaked, and we thought ‘maybe this will not be so bad,'” Armstrong said.
“I am not exactly a native, but I always considered myself one,” Armstrong told the Daily Record in a 2002 profile.
A graduate of Roswell High School, Armstrong received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Eastern New Mexico University in Portales (ENMU) and in 1995, received her Doctorate in Educational Administration and Supervision from the University of New Mexico.
During her time enrolled at ENMU, Armstrong toured military bases in Europe as part of a group formed to entertain soldiers who were stationed abroad, including in London and Paris. Armstrong also visited Greenland during the trip.
“It was a great opportunity that arose, and it was a great experience,” Armstrong said in 2002.
After graduating, Armstrong took a teaching position in Syracuse, Kansas. However, she quickly found her way back to the Pecos Valley in 1971, teaching in ENMU-R’s Graduate Equivalency Program.
When that program lost its funding, Armstrong worked in the Roswell Printing Company as a typesetter and as an assistant director at Roswell Public Library.
As enrollment began to increase at ENMU-R, Armstrong returned to the university as an English teacher…
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