Wesley (Wes) Armour

Wesley Gordon Armour died peacefully on 26 September 2026 at Parkland at the Common in Halifax, Nova Scotia, at the age of 81. His Cobbs Funeral Home obituary noted a long life shaped by love of family and, in later years, Alzheimer's disease, through which Patricia remained constantly at his side.

A visitation was arranged for 5 October 2026 at Tidal Church on St. George Boulevard in Moncton, with memorial gifts suggested for Boys and Girls Clubs in Moncton, Dieppe or Riverview, Atlantic Wellness, or a charity of choice. APTA and Truck News published tributes calling him a warm storyteller whose influence would remain in the industry and communities he served.

Wesley Gordon Armour was born about 1945 and grew up on his family's farm in Taylor Village, New Brunswick, the son of Gordon and Iris Armour. He worked on the farm and in the family's trucking business while attending school in Dorchester.

In 1966 he completed a business administration program at the institution now known as New Brunswick Community College (NBCC). That same year he joined G.M. Armour and Son, which then ran ten trucks with eleven employees.

Two years after joining the family firm, Armour purchased it from his father and relocated the business to Moncton. He built it into Armour Transportation Systems (ATS), which grew into one of Canada's top ten carriers, with more than 2,000 employees, roughly 4,000 pieces of equipment and 26 terminals across Atlantic Canada.

He served as president of the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association and of the Canadian Trucking Alliance, giving Atlantic carriers a national voice. In 2021 the company was sold to Seaboard Transportation Group. Industry peers on his death called him a true leader and an icon of regional trucking.

Armour married Patricia (Pat) Buck; they were together 59 years. Their children included sons Ralston and Angus and daughter Victoria; Angus died in 2010. Grandchildren Roman, Petra and Jasper Timani were a late-life joy. He was a member of Harrisville United Church in Moncton and loved motorcycles, boats, snowmobiling and hunting geese in company.

With Pat he established the Wesley and Patricia Armour Foundation to support Atlantic non-profits and Camp Angus through Diabetes Canada. He chaired capital campaigns, created scholarships and mentored entrepreneurs. In 2023 NBCC established the Wesley Armour School of Business. National and provincial honours included Member of the Order of Canada (appointed 2016, invested 2017), Officer of the Order of New Brunswick, the Order of Moncton and the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal.

Armour's business legacy is ATS itself: a farm-rooted fleet turned into a major Atlantic logistics employer. His civic legacy is the Armour Foundation, Camp Angus, the NBCC business school that bears his name, and a generation of trucking leaders who cite his mentorship.

The Order of Canada citation praised his corporate social responsibility and role as one of Moncton's go-to community builders. Colleagues said people took him at his word because his word meant something. That combination of scale and personal warmth defines how Atlantic Canada remembers Wes Armour.