Obituary of Larry Lang

LARRY LANG

April 14, 1931 – July 30, 2017

Larry Leslie Lang died at the General Hospital on July 30, 2017 in Regina, SK at the age of 86. He spent many of his recent years in ill-health, but managed on his own with some help until recently and, more importantly, through all the difficulty maintained his love of life and the people around him to the end.

Larry is survived by his children Michael Lang, Regina and Jillian Lang (Darwin), Vancouver; sister Leona McCann, Regina; cherished grand-daughter Michelle Lang (Steve) and her mother Vivianne Gauthier (Keefe), Regina who was a very special person in Larry’s life and helped make his last years good ones. He was predeceased by his wife of 56 years, Lillian in 2010.

Larry was born on April 14, 1931 in Bateman, SK to Gustav and Mary Lang. His father died when he was young, and his grandfather, Jonas, stepped up to give him many wonderful childhood experiences. At the time, he spoke German and remembered much of the language to the end. He was extremely proud of his mother for being able to raise him and his sister Leona in difficult times with very little means. Despite the hardships, his childhood provided some of the happiest memories of his life.

In earlier years after his childhood, Larry had a variety of jobs including “stuking,” telephone pole man (installing some of the first telephone lines in Saskatchewan) and was involved with many community activities, including being the treasurer for local organizations. He played several sports including basketball and was a wrestler (“140 pounds of fighting fury”!). He was a pilot officer with the Royal Canadian Air Force from 1959-1969 and became the sports editor for the Moose Jaw Times Herald. He was a natural at almost anything he tried.

Larry also pursued academia and studied history and education, became a high school history teacher and ended up professor of education at the University of Regina until his retirement in 1993. He was heavily influenced by John Dewey and used his principles to design children’s playgrounds and to pioneer learning programs in phys ed and outdoor education, receiving awards of honour for the latter.

He was a man of many interests and much talent and therefore many achievements. Professionally, he was probably most proud of his teacher education project in Cameroon; personally, the log cabin he built with Mike Federko in Northern Saskatchewan (which sadly burned down in a forest fire several years ago). He was also a gardener, outdoorsman (cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, canoeing), carpenter (designing and building furniture and wooden play structures for the university children’s program), curler, wood carver and finally a stone carver sharing his sculptures widely. He was married to Lillian for 56 years (who he met playing ping pong) and after raising their family, they spent many happy years travelling around the world together, visiting dozens of countries.

Larry was liked and respected by everyone and had many very close friendships. He was genuinely interested in people, no matter what their background or interests were, in hopes of learning something new. He liked to share everything he learned with anyone who showed interest. For a man of his generation, he was very affectionate and expressed his love to those around him openly and often.

Memorial service to celebrate Larry’s life will be held at Speers Funeral Chapel, 2136 College Avenue, Regina, SK on Saturday, August 5, 2017 at 3:30 p.m. with a visitation two hours prior. The service will take the form of story telling, as Larry really loved to tell a story. Please come and share your favourite Larry story and, in honour of his story telling style, irrelevant but interesting details and tangents are encouraged. Or just tell a short and silly one, as he was equally fond of those. Condolences, memories, thoughts and stories can be shared on his memorial page at www.speersfuneralchapel.com.