Dayhoff Soundtrack: James Robert Langdon, Sr., age 91, of Westminster

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

James Robert Langdon, Sr., age 91, of Westminster

By Kevin Dayhoff

Posted ~~12/17/2010~~ – 12/29/2010

James Robert Langdon, Sr., age 91, of Westminster, was laid to rest at Creek Cemetery in Union Bridge on Thursday, December 16, 2010.

Langdon, a co-founder of the Carroll County Association for Retarded Citizens and the owner of a family business, Direct-To-You-Gas, on Green Street in Westminster, died on Sunday, December 12, 2010 at the Golden Living Center in Westminster

Friends, family, neighbors and community leaders crowded into the Myers-Durboraw Funeral Home on Willis St. in Westminster last Wednesday to pay their respects to the popular businessman and community leader who never tired of giving back to the community.

His son, Jim Langdon, noted that his Dad would have been unhappy to have received so much attention. He didn’t do things to draw attention to himself, said Langdon.

When discussing his work with the Association for Retarded Citizens, another family member added, when Langdon and his late wife of 52 years, Ina Mae (Rakes) Langdon, who died August 22, 2005, decided to do something, they worked hard to make it happen.

Langdon was October 26, 1919, in New Windsor. He was the son of the late Joseph and Lula (Etzler) Langdon.

He graduated in 1936 from New Windsor High School and Western Maryland College – now McDaniel College with the class of 1940.

During World War II, he served his country as a captain in the U.S. Army Air Force in the south Pacific.

After the war, he first worked as a stockbroker before he started several family businesses in Westminster; including Polar Peak Ice Cream, Bio-Chem Company, and Langdon Oil Company.

However, he is best known for starting Direct-To-You-Gas in 1955. The gas station to this day is one of the very few in the area where attendants still pump the gas for you.

Up until 1964, an added feature of the station was the ice cream stand the family ran next to the station. Today, the gas station remains a family affair. Jim Langdon joined the family business in 1966.

It was also in 1955 that Langdon and his wife teamed-up with a number of other parents and community leaders to found the Carroll County Association for Retarded Citizens, now known as The Arc of Carroll County, to offer scholastic, recreational, and employment opportunities to their special children.

According to the ARC’s website, it “was established in 1955 by a small group of parents of children with developmental disabilities. At that time, children were excluded from public education and there were no structured social, recreational, or educational activities outside of the home.

“Those parents met to see how they could collectively foster the growth and development of their children. From their meeting came this organization, The Arc of Carroll County, Inc.”

Surviving Langdon are sons and daughters-in-law, James R. and Margaret “Maggie” Langdon, Edward A. and Linda Langdon all of Westminster, daughter and son-in-law, Susan L. and Douglas Quade of Keuka Park, N.Y.; and grandchildren, Michael Langdon, Jenny Parsley, Megan Pratt and James D. Quade; two great-grandsons and many nieces and nephews.

The Rev. Twyla Rowe conducted Langdon’s funeral service on Thursday. The family has asked that memorial contributions in Langdon’s memory may be made to Heifer Project International, 1 World Avenue, Little Rock, AR, 72202 or to Westminster Church of the Brethren, 1 Park Place, Westminster, MD 21157.

Labels: Dayhoff writing essays, People Tributes