By Jan Weiner, R.N.
I first met Herbert Armstrong during my senior year in Ambassador College when I went to his home on the campus in Pasadena for Thanksgiving 1971. After that I was invited back to help prepare and serve meals to graduating seniors, as well as the guests and dignitaries he entertained until his death in 1986. Some of the dignitaries for whom I was present include Johan Sadat, Otto van Habsburg, members of the Japanese Diet, King Leopold of Belgium and Queen Sirikit of Thailand. After the guests left, some times Mr. Armstrong came back to the kitchen where he would greet and thank all the volunteers and on occasion would sit at the breakfast table and talk for hours. During those times, I began to see his personal side.
As the result of that contact, Mr. Armstrong usually greeted me warmly with a hug when he saw me at other times on the campus. After his return to Pasadena from Tucson in 1981 after recovering from his heart attack, I was surprised by a telephone call on the morning of June 24, 1982. He was looking for a nurse to monitor his day-to-day health and to travel with him and had been reminded by his staff that I had, in the past, been a registered nurse.
Thus began my experience as Herbert Armstrong’s personal nurse. I worked my regular full-time job during the day, and then would check on him several times a week in the evenings as well as travel with him both domestically and internationally, from that time until September 1983.
I found him to have a great sense of humor he loved to tell jokes, some times long, convoluted ones with many details, but he never forgot the details or the punch line. I still remember his favorite toast: “To the happiest days of my life, spend in the arms of another man’s wife.” He’d then pause for effect and to look at the faces of shock around him before he would say, “My mother!” I often wished that I could catch on film that look of glee on his face when he laughed, as his whole face would light up in joy.
He loved to play the card game, Hearts, he was very competitive at it and he usually won. He did not like to lose and once, when I shot the moon while playing with him, Aaron Dean and Capt. Ed Black, he “fired” me. Of course, I was quickly rehired. He also played Solitaire on occasion while we were on long trips and I accused him of cheating to win.
I also watched a man with the proverbial “one track mind”. He was single-minded when writing an article or sermon and would become peeved if those around him disturbed him or did not focus on the subject with the same zeal as he had. I learned to watch him for a pause in his typing before interrupting him when he had telephone call.
As time passed, he began to expect more and more of my time to be spent with him when we were in Pasadena. When I began as his nurse, I would only stop by his house in the evening several times a week to check his blood pressure, to get a general update on how he was feeling and to prepare his medications for the next several days. Over the months, he let me know that he wanted me to come to check on him every evening. The time I spent with him varied from a few minutes to several hours depending on how long he wanted me to stay. Frequently we watched Lakers basketball games or his favorite videos of The Young Ambassadors, Ambassador College’s singing and dancing troupe. Sometimes he simply wanted to talk. I felt he didn’t need my skills as a nurse, since his health was stable at that time, as much as he just wanted companionship. It was during this time that he was divorcing his second wife, Ramona Martin.
I had witnessed his anger directed toward others, but never toward me personally until I had traveled with him for a year. When he exploded at me one evening in June 1983, it was about the amount of time I was devoting to him. I had always made a point of letting him know of the other facets of my life, my other job, my husband and my household responsibilities. He let me know that he felt everything else in my life was more important to me than he was. When I got home in tears that night, my husband Scott and I decided it was time for Mr. Armstrong to find someone else to serve as his nurse.
We began a time of prayer, Bible study and counsel to determine if there was a biblical example of a married woman serving in the New Testament church without her husband as a part of the team and could find no support. I felt to continue would eventually damage our marriage. We spoke to several evangelists about the situation, including Ellis La Ravia and Joe Tkach Sr. and were told by both that we should “be willing to sacrifice”, but neither could give a biblical example to support their position. Ellis La Ravia would not answer me when I asked him if he would permit his wife to do the same thing he was asking of me. Scott and I decided to approach Mr. Armstrong and ask him to find a nurse who was not married to care for him.
That evening in June 1983 was not an easy one. Mr. Armstrong screamed at Scott, calling him a “boy” and said upcoming trips would have to be canceled if I was not willing to travel. We explained that I was more than willing to continue in the position until a replacement could be found. The search began and lasted until Elaine Brown was hired to replace me in September.
I had heard of employees who had angered Mr. Armstrong and were never again allowed to speak to him. I hoped to end my tenure as his personal nurse on an amicable note, so offered to substitute for Elaine on occasion so she could take time off. I continued to do that until he became ill in the summer of 1985 and last spoke to him on the telephone in the fall of that year.
To me Mr. Armstrong was always very very "above board."
August 5, 2001
Copyright © 2004, Neil Earle