Morganton's Buddy Armour shifts his focus from furniture to limericks

Buddy Armour has never been a man to take a shortcut around a challenge. 

The Morganton native made his first bank deposit at 8 years old, finished in the top tier of his high school graduating class, obtained a degree from Catawba Tech while working full time, finishing first in his class, and completed his four-year degree when he was 37 years old, married, and a father. Even then, he finished No. 1 in his class.

Excellence obtained through hard work and determination seems to come second nature to Armour who, now that he has retired, has decided to tackle a new challenge: writing poetry.

Armour’s love of writing took root in his ninth grade creative writing class, where, despite his best effort, he earned his only “poor” high school grade. 

“I worked my tail off,” Armour said, “and the best I could get out of Mrs. Williams for the year was a ‘B.’ It was the only ‘B’ I made in high school. But that ‘B’ made me a good writer,” he explained.

Armour earned a degree in furniture drafting and design from Catawba Tech (now Catawba Valley Community College) while employed at Drexel Furniture, where he eventually joined the company’s design center, became the facilities manager, and then, the senior designer for the industry.

Armour also found time to serve his community, serving for 24 years as a member of the Burke County Board of Education.

Armour’s drive and work ethic served him well throughout life. As a junior in high school, he set his sights on a classmate, Janice Leonhardt, and was determined to do all that was required of him to win her heart and her hand. The couple will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary this June, although Armour will tell you he and his girl are “still dating.”

Furniture design may have been in his head, but creative writing has occupied his heart for years. While completing business and design classes at his community college and university, he often found himself ho-humming his way through the industry classes and looking forward to the schools’ English offerings.

“My favorite part of Gardner-Webb was English,” Armour said. “I enjoyed my English teachers at Western Piedmont, too. They couldn't believe some old dude like me could actually sit down and think and write.”

But according to Armour, his life experiences and love of the written word kept calling him to pour his thoughts out onto the computer screen. When the furniture industry took a hit during the recession of 2008, Armour found himself in unfamiliar territory. He was laid off from his job at Drexel and was unemployed – for approximately 12 hours.

What some might have seen as a setback only spurred Armour to stretch himself in another direction. He established the Armour Company, Inc., and began working as an independent contractor with the furniture industry. The change was a fit.

“I never really loved my job until I was independent and able to work at my own pace,” he said. 

Last year, when Armour decided to retire, he turned to something that always sustained him – the written word. 

“I started a book in 2010 about my dad because there are so many cool things he taught me and so many great stories he told,” Armour said. “I made a great outline and I was following my outline. I was about 25-30 pages into this book and one day, I lost it all.

“It’s somewhere hidden in one of my hard drives,” he said. “I’ve had people looking at the hard drives and no one can find it, so I’ve just lost that.”

Down but not out, Armour didn’t despair. “Last month, I thought if I can't find my manuscript, well, I can write poems,” he said.  

And write he did. During the past two months, Armour has penned numerous poems, including several limericks, which he said he particularly enjoys.

Armour finds his life experiences provide the best inspiration for his writings. “Writing from personal experience makes it even more powerful,” he said. “Anybody can write, but writing that has thought and purpose behind it is special.” 

Armour said he writes about, “How I think, what I think about, and how I’ve been influenced by the people around me. 

“Anytime you do what you love, and it not be work, you usually make something that’s good,” he said. 

Sandra Wilkerson Queen is the education and business reporter for The Paper. She may be reached at 828-445-8595, Ext. 2002, or via email at sandra@thepaper.media.