As the baby of eight siblings in a decorated athletics-driven family, Beverly (Jones) was appointed the most scrutinized chore.

 

Cleaning the family’s homemade trophy case.

 

The multi-level cabinet was built by one of her older brothers in wood-shop class, and was positioned prominently against the wall in the living room of the family’s Puyallup house.

 

It filled up quickly - almost overnight.

 

“I would be the one to dust it every weekend, and it had hundreds of trophies, medals - even boxing gloves,” Beverly said.

 

“I took my time. It probably took an hour, but it seemed like an eternity because there were so many of them.”

 

Growing up in Hilltop and later moving out to Puyallup, it didn’t take the Armstrongs long to find their home away from home - the now-defunct downtown Tacoma Boys Club - where they spent hours and hours after school or during the summer days playing all kinds of sports.

 

But one sport became king among brothers Frankie, David, Dennis and Alfred  - boxing.

 

“The thing about my parents, they never pressured us to be in sports, or to ever get out of them,” said Alfred, the youngest brother. “And I remember when I was growing up, every house we lived in, we always created a gym or a workout environment.”

 

That was a mindset instilled by their father, Frank, a Texas native who entered the U.S Army at age 16, and served in World War II before moving out to Washington.

 

Frank was diligent about his children staying fit and active.

 

“He was a workaholic, taking on a job at the Atlas Foundry after retiring from the Army, and also cleaning up theaters,” Alfred said. “He taught us about work ethic.”

 

Mom, Ivy (Boyd), who grew up in Alabama, was a faith-driven member of the Mount Tahoma Seventh-Day Adventist Church.

 

“She provided for her family and worked hard,” said LaTrisha Armstrong, David’s daughter. “She gave back to the community. She loved having people over for dinner. She loved singing. She learned how to play the guitar in her 70s.”

 

It seemed wherever the four Armstrong boys went, they found something to punch, whether it was one of the dad’s old stuffed military duffle bags in the garage, or the heavy bag down at the boys club - or even Beverly, in a teasing manner.

 

And as if sparring with the likes of future boxing greats Sugar Ray Seales, Leo Randolph, Rocky Lockridge, Johnny Bumphus, Dale Grant and Bret Summers under legendary Tacoma Boys Club trainer Joe Clough wasn’t enough - Alfred remembers the moment he and his siblings were signed and sealed to a long amateur career.

 

In the summer of 1964, Muhammed Ali made a visit to the boys club months after knocking out Sonny Liston to become heavyweight champion of the world.

 

Kids, including all four Armstrong brothers, lined up along the walls of the boys club waiting to meet Ali.

 

“He came in, dancing and floating around, asking, ‘What’s my name?!?!’ in the ring” Alfred said.

 

“Then he got out of the ring and went straight to the heavy bag. For us, that was like hitting a wall. But as he was hitting it, the bag began swinging around and suddenly fell off the chain and broke a window nearby.”

 

Even though all four siblings (known around town as the “Fighting Armstrong Brothers”) went on to win Tacoma Athletic Commission “Golden Gloves” titles (1975), it became clear early that David was the pin-up international boxing star - and the brothers’ ring leader.

 

“Davey wasn’t the oldest - Frankie was - but he was the one everyone kind of looked up to and leaned on,” said Tacoma Boxing Club director Tom Mustin, also a former U.S. Olympics team coach.

 

The golden boy won four TAC “Golden Gloves” titles, then went on to win a pair of national Golden Gloves titles (1976, 1978). He was also a four-time national AAU champion (1972, 1975, 1976 and 1979), and won a gold medal at the 1975 Pan-American Games.

 

But what David was best known for was becoming the first American boxer in history to make successive U.S. Olympic teams - in 1972 and 1976. He was also in line to make it to three in a row, but the United States boycotted the 1980 Olympics in Moscow.

 

“With Davey, he had the strong will and was determined to be the best,” said Randolph, a 1976 Olympic gold-medalist teammate of David. “He was so smooth. He knew how to pick an opponent apart.”

 

Starting in the 106-pound class and ending at 132, David left the amateur ranks with a 170-24 record, turned professional in 1980 but retired three years later after not having fought for a world title.

 

In 2005, while working for the city of Seattle as a surveyor and construction manager, David was inducted into the Tacoma/Pierce County Hall of Fame. He died last year due to complications with dementia.

 

“Boxing was all around me,” LaTrisha said. “There were trophies everywhere. There were boxing gloves everywhere. But he was a humble guy. He never boasted about his achievements. When he did talk about boxing, it was always a thing of the past.”

 

Each of the brothers had his own style and level of success in amateur boxing.

 

While Davie was the technician, Dennis - his twin brother - was tall and had a jab-and-move approach. Frankie was a defensive counter-puncher. And Alfred was easily the most aggressive.

 

“I was more like Mike Tyson,” Alfred said. “I just kept coming.”

 

Even though Frankie collected the most TAC “Golden Gloves” titles (six), it was Alfred who probably was the second-best boxer in the family behind David. He traveled with his more famous older brothers to tournaments across the country, and even defeated future world champion Aaron Pryor at an AAU national tournament in 1974.

 

But when Pryor got the nod over him for the spot on the U.S. team, Alfred quit boxing and began concentrating on other sports at Rogers High School in Puyallup, notably football and wrestling.

 

In fact, Alfred was the leading rusher at tailback in the South Puget Sound League before going off and playing two seasons at Mount Hood Community College. He later became a competitive bodybuilder, placing fourth in the Mr. North America event in 1987 at middleweight.

 

“They were high profile and something special,” said Bruce Osborne, Alfred’s wrestling coach at Rogers.

 

All the boys ran track at Rogers. Dennis was an accomplished cross-country runner who later competed at Spokane Falls Community College.

 

And Beverly was a junior-high drill-team captain in junior high, the record-setting girls’ track team captain at Rogers (100-yard dash, relay and long jump) and a volleyball player who never left the floor for the Rams.

 

“When we were doing all of this, I felt like we were just an average family that liked doing sports,” Beverly said. “But now I am in awe. Seeing the way our name has been recognized, I think it is awesome.”