Mr. Langemann

Being in a small home church, a visitor was big news. We didn't get visitors often, so when Mr. and Mrs. Langemann came to visit, we were all excited. As we found out, Mr. Langemann was assigned by his company to come to Colorado and start a U.S. division of Computronix. Mr. Langemann had come to scope things out, and one of his priorities while in the states was to find a suitable church for his family. During church, Mr. Langemann seemed so calm and reserved -- so much so that I started to wonder if he really had nine kids like he claimed or if I had misunderstood him.

The truth was soon unveiled when all eleven of them moved down from Canada. It was quite exciting to have so many people join the church from somewhere as far away as Canada. All the Langemanns were quite fascinating. It was fun learning their culture and becoming familiar with their interesting terminology, or Lange-a-lingo as I called it. All the Langemanns had their own personality, and Mr. Langemann, to me, always seemed so quiet and reserved... well, until the Johnsons invited the church down to Trinidad for a weekend.

Around the campfire, Mr. Langemann changed into quite another character. Unexpectedly, and very much to the surprise of us all, his jolly attitude displayed itself with great acuity while he introduced us all for the first time to "Dum Dum Dada," a song I find myself whistling quite frequently. After that, I started to get to know him better and found that, although he can be a good-natured gentleman, his cheerful, good-natured attitude can be quite humorous at times.

Back in the business side of things, I found Mr. Langemann to be a very patient employer. Although I mainly worked with his son, Josh, I was one of the first employed by Computronix and therefore had an opportunity to discover just what kind of an employer Mr. L. was. Instead of trying to get everyone to fit into one mold, he seemed to have a knack for discovering people's strengths and was good at putting people into positions they could perform well in. He was very patient and would give people a chance to become a valuable employee.

Throughout the years, we all got to know Mr. Langemann better and I consider it a privilege to have known him. I shall always remember him as one who was jolly in social situations but could still be serious and command respect. Whether it was a sunrise Easter service, a dramatic quoting of Scripture, or an admonition, his memory will live on. He was a dear brother and one who will be greatly missed by us all.