Jeanne Ellen Armstrong Foster

Jeanne Ellen Armstrong Foster, age 79, of Bel Air, MD, died on May 16, 2011 at Forest Hill Health and Rehabilitation in Forest Hill, MD. She was the daughter of the late Albert Ledmon and Ethel Lavina Sickler Armstrong and wife of the late Joseph William Foster.

Mrs. Foster was born on June 21, 1931 in Lancaster, PA. Of her many extracurricular activities at Manheim Township High School and Hood College, she particularly enjoyed being the drum major and playing the string bass in various school and community musical ensembles including big bands. After graduating with a mathematics degree in 1952, she was a scheduler for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company in Baltimore, still frequently playing the bass in orchestras and church performances. She married on May 22, 1954 and moved to Bel Air, where she did bookkeeping and many other duties for her husband's family business, Foster Funeral Home. She also was a mathematician at Aberdeen Proving Ground until her first child in 1959.

She was a well-known local expert in needle arts. Beginning in early childhood she learned from her beloved Aunt Edna and Grandmother Armstrong, and the "itch to stitch" remained an important part of her life. With her mathematical talent and enthusiasm, she easily mastered various techniques, especially sewing, knitting, crocheting, cross-stitching, needlepointing, and complex embroidery such as blackwork and Hardanger work. In 1975 she began teaching needlepoint to many women through the Maryland Extension Service. She won awards, designed, taught, and judged competitions. For over three decades she invited especially capable and interested women to lively Tuesday sessions at her home for quilting-bee-like sessions of busy camaraderie, and she often taught them whatever needle arts projects she was inspired to share. In latter years she took up quilting, which quickly occupied an entire room, plus the living room when the quilting frame was up and friends were stopping in to stitch and chat. The last project she worked on was back to her roots: a knitted scarf.

Her other interests included games and puzzles, gardening, and volksmarch hiking. She was a member of First Presbyterian Church for over 50 years. She ate ice cream at least once every day and declared Breyer's the best.

Mrs. Foster is survived by her sons, Jeffrey W. Foster, D.D.S. of Middletown, DE and James A. Foster, M.D. of Augusta, GA; daughter, Jennifer E. Foster, D.C. of Middletown, MD; brother, Albert L. Armstrong Jr., Ph.D. and wife, Sara B. Armstrong of Latham, NY; sister, Ethel A. Merrigan of Easton, MD; five grandchildren, John and Elizabeth Foster of Middletown, DE and William, Jacqueline, and Daniel Foster of Augusta, GA; and sister-in-law, Mildred E. Foster of Parkville, MD. She is also survived by her many needleworking friends. In addition to her parents and husband, she was predeceased by her sister, Edna J. Armstrong.


Pallbearers will be Jeffrey W. Foster, D.D.S., James A. Foster, M.D., Albert L. Armstrong, Ph.D., D. Bartholomew G. Kreiner, D.D.S., Stephen C. Niles, and A. Kurt Schreiber.

Those who desire may make a donation to Hood College, Upper Chesapeake Health Foundation, or the National Wildlife Federation.