Barbara Langridge

Barbara Monreva Langridge, 90, passed peacefully in her home in Austin, Texas on Monday, March 5, 2012.

Barbara, “Monty,” was born in Lometa, Texas, October 15, 1921, to Ruth and Archie, “Dutch,” Bagley. One of three siblings, Barbara grasped life with a tenacious spirit doing everything set before her with verve.

She met her husband, James Samuel Langridge, in Fort Hood, Killeen, Texas. They later married June 26, 1943, had three children, and enjoyed fifty-two years of marriage. While her husband served in the Army during World War II, Barbara taught in a one-room schoolhouse until his return in 1945. Whether a teacher, a bookkeeper, or a friend, she approached life with such passion and always tackled obstacles with a huge heart and a beautiful smile.

Barbara and Jim later moved to Odessa, Texas and worked side-by-side, both professionally and with their church for decades. With such a giving heart Barbara ministered to many serving as a Sunday school teacher for over thirty-five years and was beloved by all who knew her. She never sat idle…always looking for ways to better her community, her church, and her life.

Barbara was the wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, and cousin everyone wanted. She approached life with such a hunger and leaves behind an extraordinary legacy that will be felt by many in generations to come.

Preceding her in death is her husband, Jim, who died May 13, 1995, and laid to rest in Odessa, Texas, and also her son, James, who died January 3, 2001, in Rosanky, Texas. Those left behind to cherish her memory are two daughters, Joyce Matthews and Pamela Gray of Austin, Texas; four grandchildren, Jason Roe and his wife, Kasia, Jennifer Roe-Wilson and her husband, Jeff, of the Austin area, Jamie Langridge of Odessa, Texas, and Kristen Gray of San Diego, California; as well as three great-grandchildren: Jayden, Matthew, and Kristine.

Barbara, you have touched all our lives in innumerable ways and have left your indelible mark upon our hearts forever.

Some people come into our lives and leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never ever the same.

Some people come into our lives and quickly go... Some stay for a while and embrace our silent dreams.

Some people awaken us to new and deeper realizations...for we gain insight from the passing whisper of their wisdom.

Throughout our lives we are sent precious souls...meant to share our journey however brief or lasting their stay they remind us why we are here.

To learn... to teach... to nurture... to love

Some people come into our lives to cast a steady light upon our path and guide our every step their shining belief in us helps us to believe in ourselves.

Some people come into our lives to teach us about love...The love that rests within ourselves.

Let us reach out to others and feel the bliss of giving for love is far richer in action

than it ever is in words.

Some people come into our lives and they move our souls to sing and make our spirits dance.

They help us to see that everything on earth is part of the incredibility of life...

and that it is always there for us to take of its joy.

Some people come into our lives and leave footprints on our hearts and we are never ever the same.

Thank you for the incredible Dance!

Funeral arrangements are handled through Crawford Bowers Funeral Home, 211 West Avenue B, Copperas Cove, Texas, 76522. Graveside services will be held at Oak Hill Cemetery in Lampasas, Texas on Friday, March 9, 2012. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, please send a donation in Barbara’s name to the American Heart Association.