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By NOAH WORTHAM | Managing Editor

Standing with their heads bowed on Monday, March 10, the Shelby County Commission began their regularly scheduled meeting with a prayer. However, this morning’s prayer was more than a routine, it was a heartfelt petition for peace and closure during a time of mourning after the loss of a hero, confidant and friend.

“Give rest O Christ to your servant Don with thy saints where sorrow and pain are no more,” Commissioner Ward Williams said in his prayer.

As the commission continued through the meeting, each motion and item passed carried a little more weight than normal, knowing that Shelby County had lost one of its most influential figures who had helped save the county from financial ruin and permanently set the standard for local policy.

“When we pause, we think about Mr. Armstrong in a lot of ways and most of us (look) back from a county standpoint, whether it’s all he has done serving as a commissioner or tax commissioner,” Shelby County Commissioner Kevin Morris said confidently.

As Morris continued to fight through the emotions of the moment, he found it difficult to get out the words that represent just how much Armstrong meant to him.

“Mr. Don has been a part of my life since I can remember and he is the hands and feet of Christ in our community,” Morris said. “Don Armstrong was there to help families in every aspect… I can’t tell you how many times in my life he has been a quiet confidant of strength and advice and every time he’d do it in Godly wisdom. My community will miss Don Armstrong, and unfortunately, there just aren’t that many Don Armstrongs in the world.”

‘Man of integrity’

Donald Armstrong died on Thursday, March 6 at the age of 84 after a long life of service to his friends, family, church, country and county. A funeral service was held for Armstrong on Monday, March 10 at First Baptist Church of Columbiana where Armstrong had been a faithful member for 43 years.

“Don will be remembered as a man of integrity,” said Dr. Michael Miller, senior pastor at FBCC, during Armstrong’s funeral. “I’ve heard story after story of his character as a person of deep and genuine faith. He served his county, he served his country, he served his community, he served his church along with his friends and family. He was truly an unselfish man—one that I, along with countless others, had tremendous respect for.”

Among those that remember Armstrong the most is his lifelong friend, Shelby County attorney Butch Ellis, who attended grade school, high school and college with him.

“He was a dear, loyal trusted friend of mine for 80 years and he was dear, loyal and trusted friend of anybody who called him friend,” Ellis said. “He touched a lot of lives, both professionally and personally in his church, in his work and in his role as public servant.”

In and out of trouble, the two had been close—forming a permanent bond that continues to unite the Armstrong and Ellis families together.

“He has always been a generous, kind and tolerant person with high moral values,” Ellis said. “He had a strong personal code of conduct that he always followed but he was always very tolerant of those of us that fell a little bit short of the mark.”

An old friend and professional colleague, former state representative and current state superintendent of banking Mike Hill remembers the many years he had worked together with Armstrong.

“He’s going to be missed more than anybody will ever know,” Hill said. “Don was just a wonderful, wonderful man, and I loved him like a brother.”

Hill recalls Armstrong as a humble person—one who was hesitant to take credit for a job well done.

“He never wanted any publicity,” Hill said. “When there was a commission meeting, he’d be at the back of the line and when (the press) would take the picture, he’d give credit to everybody but himself.”

As a man dedicated to hard work, Armstrong took advantage of many roles throughout his career.

Armstrong served in the Army National Guard for six years. His professional career included work with U.S. Steel and nine years with USS Agri Chemical in Albany, Georgia. Armstrong served as a Shelby County planning commissioner from May 1985 to March 1986, as the commissioner for Shelby County District 9 from January 1991 to August 2005 and as the Shelby County property tax commissioner from September 2005 to March 2025.

It was during his time as Shelby County commissioner that Armstrong established the basis for how Shelby County is operated today.

“I hope that people today appreciate the county government we have because its foundation was established by Don Armstrong,” said Commissioner Lindsey Allison, who worked with him during one of the county’s most pivotal moments.

Accomplishing the impossible

After running for election twice before, Armstrong was finally elected to the Shelby County Commission in 1991. However, the battle wasn’t over yet as Armstrong and other new commissioners faced a severe issue. The previous members of the Shelby County Commission had built a sewer system in the north end of the county and the bonds for the project were supposed to be paid for by payments from its customers. However, the amount of revenue generated by customers was not enough.

By fall 1992, Shelby County was approximately $50 million in debt from multiple projects and had defaulted on the multimillion dollar loan it had taken out for work on the sewer system.

“It was so bad that our first order of business when I was elected… was to borrow money to make payroll for this county,” Allison said. “That’s pretty horrifying when you think about it. We were the first county to seriously (consider going) bankrupt. And it took a driving force behind the scenes that provided not only to the knowledge of how to get us out of it but also the time and energy and probably the most important thing—integrity.”

With a daring plan in mind, Armstrong reached out to then State Rep. Hill and Sen. Ellis with a potential solution to the problem that taxpayers would not be excited about.

Armstrong told Hill and Ellis that the county needed to find a funding source to pay the bonds back and requested the help of the Alabama Legislature to help pass a countywide 1 cent sales tax increase.

“I thought I was going to faint,” Hill said. “I said, ‘You want us to drop a 1 cent sales tax on everybody?’ He said, ‘Yeah, that’s what we’ve got to do.”

Armstrong outlined a bill that limited the proposed sales tax increase so that funds extracted could only be utilized toward paying the bond back with the promise the tax would cease after 10 years.

The County Commission then named 19 people to a committee to try and convince citizens of the seriousness of the financial situation.

“They had public hearings in the north end, the east end, the south end and the west end—giving the citizens a chance to understand what our financial problem was, where we are and that we’re trying to come up with a solution,” Ellis said. “Donald attended those and he was our go-to man. When they needed help explaining that, he was the man that did it.”

Despite an anti-tax sentiment, Armstrong was able to convince many stakeholders of the issue and the 1 cent sales tax increase was successfully approved by state lawmakers. With the sales tax in effect, the commission was able to pay off its debt before the full 10 years had even passed.

“It was an amazing turnaround and from that day on, Shelby County was in a different class than every other county in the United States and it was all because of him,” Hill said. “I knew then that that Don was God-led. He did things that we just thought were impossible, and they were always successful.”

Laying the foundation 

Through his time as an elected public servant, Armstrong continually found ways to improve Shelby County’s leadership, laying the foundation for years to come with the establishment of procedures and new roles.

“He established the no debt policy,” Allison said. “If you don’t have the money to pay for it, you don’t do it.”

Armstrong played a pivotal role in the creation of one of Shelby County’s most novel and significant positions—the office of county manager.

“He established our form of government,” Allison said. “He called me at home (back then)—we were laughing about this a couple of weeks ago—he said, ‘What are you doing for breakfast tomorrow?’ And I said, ‘I don’t know, you tell me.’ And he said. “Go to Cracker Barrel, we’re interviewing Alex Dudchock.”

Shortly after, the former Auburn defensive lineman stepped into office as county manager and changed Shelby County—an opportunity made possible by Armstrong’s vision and foresight.

“I had the pleasure of working with Don for over three decades in some form or fashion,” Dudchock said. “He lived by example. He was a tremendous Christian and he was instrumental as one of the leaders on the County Commission when we navigated two recessions. He was able to not only champion what was right for treating employees appropriately and keeping talent at all levels of employment but he also stressed that we continue delivering quality services.”

Armstrong also had a keen eye for balancing the use of funding—a talent that led to the formation of another key position in Shelby County.

“He was very intuitive to what we needed for that form of government and made sure that we put the right pieces in place. He just had a knack for it,” Allison said.

Armstrong pointed out how much it cost Shelby County to pay for the positions of tax assessor and tax collector and suggested that the county combine the two roles into one position: the property tax commissioner—a role he was eventually appointed to.

“He brought innovation into that office,” Ellis said. “He completely revamped the programs. He analyzed legislation that needed to be done and participated in the process. He brought us into the 21st century with office management.”

According to Dudchock, Armstrong was also instrumental in the creation of one of the first mass appraisal software systems and mapping systems in Alabama.

“Don was a strong advocate of using technology and giving all of the citizens a means and method to do online property searches,” Dudchock said. “Other counties would pattern themselves after what was happening technology wise in our property tax operation.”

Leaving a legacy

Even in his final weeks, Armstrong continued to have conversations with old friends and colleagues combining sentiment with warm advice and even plans for future projects.

“When I saw him three weeks ago, he and I had a great talk,” Allison said. “And he said, ‘Lindsey, I want to talk to you, there’s something that you’ve got to do for the county.’ Imagine that… he knows what he’s facing and he says, ‘I’ve got one more project for you Lindsey.’”

As Allison and the commission continue to lead the county, she continues to remember the many valuable lessons Armstrong taught her as a friend, colleague and mentor.

“He taught me the reality of how to live your life in a respectable way,” Allison said.

Armstrong remained a confidant and a trusted source of integrity to those who knew him for the rest of his life with the full impact of his work ethic and accomplishments set to continue influencing future generations.

“He’s one of the best men I’ve ever known in my life,” Ellis said. “It was an honor to have known him, frankly, and to call him my friend for so many years.”