Paul Armstrong Langford, Jr.

Paul Armstrong Langford, Jr., 89, passed away on Monday, the 27th of August 2018. He was born in Fort Worth, TX on the 6th of June 1929, the only child of Paul Armstrong and Lucille (Bridwell) Langford. He moved to Houston in 1934, and attended Poe Elementary, Lanier Junior High and Lamar High School, where he lettered in baseball and basketball, and The University of Texas, where he was a member of Beta Theta Pi. It was on a blind date in 1948, at The University of Texas, where he met his future wife, Marian "Ducky" McKenzie. After enlisting in the Air Force in 1951, he and Ducky married in June of that year in her home town of Galveston and they spent the next three years stationed in the Panama Canal Zone. He worked for the Baroid Corporation, the Bank of the Southwest and retired after many years from the Dow Chemical Company in 1986.

In retirement, Paul was an active member of First Presbyterian Church, serving as an usher and a volunteer with the Street Ministry Operation ID and Vacation Bible School. Also, for many years he and Ducky delivered food for the Sunshine Meals-on-Wheels Program. He was an accomplished portrait painter and a member of the American Society of Portrait Artists. He was an avid dog lover and was never without a four-legged friend his entire life.

Paul was preceded in death by his parents, his wife of 63 years, Ducky, and his daughter, Virginia Langford Tate. He is survived by his son, Mark McKenzie Langford, and his wife Sandra Spore Langford, of Houston; son-in-law, Walter E. Tate, of Fort Worth; four grandsons, William Walter Tate, and his wife, Natalie Stone Tate, of San Antonio; Andrew Langford Tate, Lincoln, NE; Paul McKenzie Langford, New York City; William Armstrong Langford, Richmond, VA; and great-granddaughters, Noelle Virginia Tate and Claire Catherine Tate.

The family will gather for a private interment at Forest Park Westheimer Cemetery in Houston where the Reverend Dr. Bill Heston, Executive Pastor of First Presbyterian Church, is to officiate.

In lieu of customary remembrances, memorial contributions may be directed to M.D Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd, Houston, TX 77030; or to First Presbyterian Church of Houston, 5300 Main St, Houston, TX 77004.