Ronald D. Armitage

Ronald Armitage, beloved husband, father, and grandfather, avid fisher, keen birder, and friend to everyone he met, passed this week in the company of family. Ron was raised in Huguenot and graduated St. Peters High School in the class of 1954; after serving the US army abroad in Germany, he returned to Staten Island, where he ultimately settled in West Brighton. He received a degree in finance from Baruch College in 1986 and worked as a trader on Wall Street; his eventual retirement didn’t dull his savvy for the stock market. On Davis Avenue, he and his wife Kathy raised three daughters, and later he became the “go-to” babysitter for their 10 grandchildren with an enduring love that ran quiet but endlessly deep. Last year, he welcomed his first great-grandchild into the world.

Ron travelled the world with his wife, two “empty nesters” pursuing a passion for birdwatching from Clove Lakes to Cuba, Maine to Ecuador. As retirees they criss-crossed the USA in a camper van between 2018 and 2020, logging over 40,000 miles, 24 states, and 27 national parks. In between trips there remained ample time for pizza nights with family, cards with friends, and stalwart attendance at his children’s and grandchildren’s concerts, plays, sporting events, and graduations.

From Snug Harbor Little League to adult recreational leagues, Ron spent many decades umpiring all around Staten Island. Ron enjoyed fishing with buddies and grandkids, and always recalled with great warmth a family fishing trip to Alaska, although he most often cast a line in local waterways.

Ron was aways ready to strike up a conversation or a new friendship and leaves behind countless lives better for knowing him—as well as countless brass animals which he collected and gifted through the years, his philosophy being: if one is good, ten is better.

Ron is survived by Kathy, his beloved wife of sixty-one years; daughters Deirdre (m. Daniel Kuhn), Cheryl (m. Michael Bergeron), Jennifer (m. Jeffery Lawson); grandchildren Haley, Emily (m. Connor Hann), Claudia, Clara, Emmett, Susana, Calvin, Audrey, Allison, Will; great grandson Simon; sister Maureen Nelson; and niece Meaghan Onofrey.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Ron’s memory may be made to Protectors of Pine Oak Woods 50th Anniversary Campaign, https://www.siprotectors.org/50th-anniversary-campaign