Great-grandfather, founder of AMOCA, U.S. Army veteran

“It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of David Wonn Armstrong” on January 7 at the age of 84, his family shared.

David was born July 8, 1940 in McPherson, Kansas. He and his family moved to the Pomona Valley when he was 4, where his father started a furniture business. He was part of the first graduating class of Upland High School and attended Pomona College. While at Pomona, he discovered two passions that would shape the remainder of his life: he met his wife, Julie, whom he would marry three years later, and he took his first ceramics class.

After graduation, he was commissioned by the U.S. Army and served with the military police.  While at Sandia Base, New Mexico (which was responsible for the security of the atomic tests in the Pacific), he created some of his first artwork, including a print that he named “the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.” This would later receive a number of awards and is now housed in the National Gallery of Art in Washington. While he would not become an artist himself, he would use his business and entrepreneurial spirit to eventually become a catalyst in founding a place to showcase the works of some of the truly great ceramics artists of our time.

After his military service, he returned to Pomona to work for and eventually own his father’s furniture business, which he would later convert into an art and ceramics gallery. His business became one of the largest manufacturers and distributers of collector plates. One of his proudest achievements was the opportunity to represent Red Skelton for 23 years as his agent.

He retired from the collector plate industry in the mid-1990s. He then became president of the Pomona Central Business District and, by leading the remodeling and renovation of a number of its buildings, played a key role in the transformation of downtown Pomona. In 2004, knowing that Pomona needed an anchor that would bring people into the area, he founded the American Museum of Ceramic Arts, or AMOCA. The museum was initially housed in a much smaller building on Garey Avenue, which it soon outgrew. On November 11, 2011 it moved to its current, much larger location. Today AMOCA celebrates its 20^th anniversary as one of the premier museums in the U.S. dedicated to ceramic arts.

“David was truly a pillar of the Pomona Valley community,” his family said. “He will be remembered as a hardworking (he worked up until his final days), dedicated, passionate, kind, loving, broad-shouldered, visionary man who loved his family, friends, community and country.”

He leaves behind the love of his life and wife of 62 years, Julianne M. Armstrong; his children and their spouses, Liz and Brad Cornell, David S. and Pam Armstrong, and Christy Armstrong and Rodney Rincon. He is also survived by his sister, Mary, and her spouse Michael Rini; grandchildren Michelle Cornell-Davis, Christopher Cornell, Nicole Armstrong Lim, Erin Corson, and Alessa Rincon; and great-grandchildren Seneca Cornell, Jarelly Cornell, Julianne Davis, and Elizabeth Davis.

A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, February 8 at Pilgrim Congregational Church, 600 N. Garey Ave., Pomona, CA 91767, followed by a 1 p.m. reception at AMOCA, 399 N. Garey Ave., Pomona. Flowers may be sent to Pilgrim Congregational Church, or a donation may be made to the Armstrong Fund at AMOCA at amoca.org/give/armstrong.