Obituaries

Pamela Oughton ArmstrongDesign Firm Owner

Pamela Oughton Armstrong, 60, who opened an interior design business in Washington in 1996, died Sept. 10 at her home in Washington. The cause of death had not been determined, according to the spokeswoman for the D.C. medical examiner's office.

Ms. Armstrong owned Details design firms in Lancaster, Pa., and Newport Beach, Calif., before founding one in Washington.

She was born in Chicago and was a great-granddaughter of William Dickson "W.D." Boyce, a noted newspaper publisher and founder of the Boy Scouts of America. Another great-grandfather, John R. Oughton, was a founder of the Keeley Institute, which, in the 19th century, was the first hospital to treat alcoholism as a disease.

Ms. Armstrong graduated from the Madeira School in McLean and the Sorbonne in Paris.

She donated her time and talents to many endeavors, including the centennial celebration of the Madeira School and the Georgetown House Tour. She also cared about the welfare of dogs, performing rescue work and adopting them.

She was a member of Saint John's Episcopal Church in Georgetown.

Her marriages to James Bobbitt Powell and Andrew Armstrong ended in divorce.

Survivors include a daughter from her first marriage, Daphne Oughton Powell Markcrow of Pawlet, Vt.; two sisters; and a granddaughter.

-- Yvonne Shinhoster Lamb

Jean Sanford LoweWatercolor Artist

Jean Sanford Lowe, 84, who spent the past 20 years creating and exhibiting watercolors, died Sept. 18 at the nursing home at Arleigh Burke Pavilion in McLean. She had Alzheimer's disease.