DECEMBER 11, 1929 – JANUARY 27, 2023
CAPT John McClellan Langford, USN (Ret), age 93, died peacefully in his sleep on Friday January 27, 2023. John had lived in Bel Air, MD since 2021 as his final home to be close to family and his alma mater, the U. S. Naval Academy.
John Langford was born in Austin, Tx and spent his youth in rural Texas helping with the family farm, camping, hunting and fishing, earning his Boy Scout Eagle badge, and graduating with the Austin High School Class of 1948. Prior to graduating from high school, John enlisted in the U. S. Navy Reserve as an Apprentice Seaman on the USS John W. Weeks training to be a Quartermaster. John was selected among other sailors and Marines to join the U. S. Naval Academy Class of 1952 and started his Navy career in the summer of 1948 as a Midshipmen. He graduated in 1952, and was commissioned an Ensign, married Annapolis native Helen Belcher and started a 28 year career as a surface warfare officer. John and Helen and their two children traveled around the country as John served in six ships (commanding three of them), served a year in Viet Nam, and served in various staff positions. His ships were the USS Henrico APA-45 (two Korean War cruises), USS Norfolk DLG-1, USS Elkhorn AOG-7 (CO), USS Sperry DD-697, USS Van Voorhis DE-1028 (CO), and USS Garcia DE-1040 (CO). John was promoted to his final rank in 1975 and retired in 1980. John’s military awards included the Bronze Star Medal and Navy Commendation Medal.
John and Helen retired to Alexandria, VA from where they watched their children’s growing families and participated in community efforts with St Albans’s Church, the Fairfax County Library, Fairfax County Sheriff’s Department, and, oddly for a Navy couple, the West Point Crew team. John and Helen were together through their 50th Wedding anniversary in 2002. Unfortunately, she passed away in December 2002 and was interred at the Naval Academy columbarium, at a location with a perfect view of the the steeple of St. Anne’s Church where John and Helen had been married.
John remarried in 2006, traveling with his new wife Lola Reed to Hudson, WI where she had family. John enjoyed fishing in the mid-West and Canada and spending time at his campground site in Minnesota. John and Lola spent 16 years together until her sudden death in 2021, after which John moved to Bel Air, MD.
He is survived by his children Calvin Paul Langford (Janice) and Deborah Johnson (Mitch), step-children Tom Reed (Peggy), Sue Pearson (Scott), Joe Reed (Michelle), Jane Masterman (Robin), Jodi McManus (Bryon), Jeff Reed (Tracey), numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews. John was predeceased by his parents Calvin Sr. and Jane, and his brother CDR Calvin Langford Jr., USCG (Ret).
A graveside funeral service for family and classmates will take place on Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at 10:30 AM at the Naval Academy Columbarium.
*Reception immediately following the service:
Blackwall Hitch
400 Sixth Street
Annapolis, MD 21403
(Plenty of free parking adjacent to the restaurant)
*Kindly RSVP for reception at [email protected] or 443-243-1735
Thanks, Calvin and Janice Langford
COMPARTA UN OBITUARIO
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