Her former byfriend said she planned to enroll in cosmetology school after settling back in Central New York.
View full sizeDeanna Armstrong, 18, who died when a bus hit a bridge on Onondaga Lake Parkway, was planning to move back to Syracuse. She briefly was a student at West Genesee High School before her family moved to Pennsylvania. Deanna Armstrong, who was killed early Saturday morning when a bus crashed into a bridge on Onondaga Lake Parkway, was planning to move back to the Syracuse area to enroll in a cosmetology school, according to family and friends.
Armstrong, 18, was one of four passengers killed when the bus hit the bridge.
Armstrong liked art, poetry and hip-hop and R&B music, according to Eric Dunlap, a former boyfriend who lives in Camillus. The two met last year as students at West Genesee High School and dated for about six months. They rode the same bus to school.
Armstrong briefly attended West Genesee after her family moved up from the Philadelphia, Pa., area. The family moved back to Pennsylvania in July, Dunlap said.
School Superintendent Christopher Brown said Armstrong enrolled as a junior shortly after classes began last year and left the district after the Christmas vacation break.
Dunlap said he and Armstrong lost contact after she left school, but they had renewed their friendship by phone and social networking websites over the summer.
He said he talked with Armstrong by phone last week, and they planned to get together after she arrived in Syracuse.
“She was always just down to earth,” Dunlap said. “She was shy and outgoing at the same time. Like once you got to know her, she was one of the best people you could ever meet. She was really outgoing and liked to be around people. She enjoyed life.”
Angelique Armstrong, an aunt who lives in Prospect Park, Pa., remembered her niece as a very loving person who always had a smile on her face. Deanna Armstrong was very close to her two older sisters, who still live in the Philadelphia area, the aunt recalled.
“They were like three musketeers. The three of them,” Angelique Armstrong. “Especially when their father passed. They were really close.”
Deanna Armstrong's biological father died of a heart attack when she was12.
Armstrong’s three aunts — Debbie, Kimberly and Angelique — in a statement released Monday, said, “Deanna loved life, always had a smile on her face and only found the good in everyone. She will be missed by everyone who knew her. She was the bright spot in her father’s life. Our family has lost a shinning star but the heavens have gained one. “
Funeral arrangements were not available.
Reach John Stith at jstith@syracuse.com or 251-5718.