Herbert J. Langner Biography

Herbert Joseph LANGNER was born 30 Apr 1923 in Cicero, Cook County, Illinois, the only child of Joseph and Lottie (DOLECKI) LANGNER. Herb had rheumatic fever as a child.

1926
Herb Langner, Jim Piasecki, Tom Piasecki, Ray Langner

1929
Marie Langner, Ray Langner, Herb Langner

1935
Ray Langner, Herb Langner, Jim Piasecki

National Thespians
"Among the many outstanding performances were those of ..., and Herbert Langner."

1942 Jun 07
"Dad" Walter Weincek, "Graduate" Herb, "Mom" Lottie

Morton High School
Kneeling: Al Dolecki, Patsy Dolecki, Tom Piasecki
Standing: Martin Langner, Charlotte Dolecki, Bessie Langner, Mae Piasecki, Herb Langner (graduate), Lottie Wiencek, Walter Wiencek, Mary LaVigna "Ross", John Piasecki, Sr.

Front Row, Right to Left: Unknown, Marie Langner Pietrzak, Harry Pietrzak,
Jenny Franczkowski Langner, Herbert J. Langner
Second Row, behind them, Left to Right: Tom Piasecki, Lil Allan,
Katharine Prevenas Langner, Ray Langner, Unknown

"I played with a softball team. We would challenge anyone in the area. We played in an empty field right on 31st Street. After the game we would go and get a Popsicle or Fudgesicle. We would sit on the curb and eat it. One night around 10:00 this big black car slowly drove by, came by our side of the street. It stopped and a man wearing a Fedora hat in the back seat rolled down the window and said, 'Hey you kids, it's late and time for you to be heading home. Go on and get out of here.' Needless to say we went home. Even the mobsters kept the neighborhood safe for families." [*HJL]

"We met at a wedding. Herb's mother knew the mother of the groom. My mother and father were friends of the bride's family. The reception was held at Falcon Hall only about three blocks away from where we were renting. And, Herb lived right across the street from the hall. Herb didn't want to go to the wedding because he didn't know anybody. His mother said, 'You have to go with me. I am not going to go alone.' Herb said, 'Well, don't go then.' Herb ended up going there and sat in a chair in the hall." [*JFL]

"Jenny didn't want to go to the wedding either." [*HJL]

"My mother kept saying, 'You have to go. You have to go.' I didn't care to go out. I didn't go for guys. So, I went to bed. My mother was all dressed up. She brought the chair to my bedroom and sat down. I said, 'Ma, you have to go to that wedding.' I knew she had to go and that she was going to sit there until I got up. So I got up, got dressed, and went." [*JFL]

"Herb's mother, Herb, and the town's gossip was sitting down. Then my mother had all of us sitting opposite. That is when Herb and I were introduced. I thought, 'Gee, he doesn't look like a jerk like all these other guys.' We didn't dance. I remember going to the bar to get a drink of soda with my mother. He was there too. I kind of glanced over at him. He kind of glanced over at me. And, that was all." [*JFL]

"So then, quick action, I asked her for a date about eleven months later. In 1945 I worked for Armour and Company. The company had a big dinner dance party for everyone once a year. This time they were going to have it at the Yacht Club on Lake Michigan aboard the Columbia. I had to have a date. So I thought, 'What is her name again? I have to call up. First Jenny said, 'No. This is Jenny. You must want Irene.'" [*HJL]

My sister and Herb worked together part time and Irene really like him." [*JFL]

Then I was working a regular 8-1/2 to 9 hours in the daytime at Armour. Then I would come home about 6:00. At 7:00 I would go to Becker Brothers Brush Company. There I would work on carbon electrical brushes until 11:00. I had a car and I would pick up Irene because he worked there too." [*HJL]

"The first time he told me he loved me it was in German. I was wondering what the heck was he talking about." [*JFL]

"A year later on a Saturday morning, June 9th, I proposed to Jenny in the cemetery. It was about four miles away from where we lived. I didn't have a car. Both my real dad and my step-father were buried in Woodlawn Cemetery at 32nd and Cicero Avenue. (Jenny's father worked for Schwinn Bicycle Company. When she was thirteen he gave her a bike.) We were crossing Route 66, Ogden Avenue, at 31st Street. IF there was a busiest street, this was it. We stopped and waited for cars to whiz by, the light changed. I said, 'Here we go!' I started pedaling and got about half way or two-thirds of the way across. I looked for her and there she is! Her feet were going a mile a minute and her bike wasn't moving. The chain was slipping. (Finally, I got off the bike and ran.) We went to the cemetery to plant flowers on the two graves. We brought with us a little hand shovel and trowel. I waited until we were loosening all the dirt. We were full of mud. We knew we were going to stand up to Jim's wedding on June 23. So first, I asked her, 'What did you find over there?' She said, 'What? Where?' and I reached over and put the ring on her muddy finger. I asked her if she would be willing to stand up to my wedding." [*HJL]

Herbert J. LANGNER and Genevieve B. FRANCZKOWSKI were married 15 Sep 1946, in Cicero, Cook County, Illinois.

"We came back from a five-day honeymoon. After paying all the bills we had $26 and some cents. We both had a job and Jenny was making more than me. In 1946 Jenny and I made $2,948. We took care of Gram too." [*HJL]

"Jenny wasn't my mother's choice. There was a girl whose father had a good business in town and she was studying to be a nurse. She was a nice girl, but, I said, 'No way!' I never went out with her." [*HJL]

"About three months prior to Herbie being born, Herb was discouraged with his job and wanted to go somewhere else. So, he sent out resumes to Welch's in Rochester, New York, Coor's Brewery in Golden, Colorado, and Stauffer Chemical in California, and two others. He answered ads in magazines." [*JFL]

"I also approached the school job placement facility." [*HJL]

"In March, Staffer Chemical wrote to say they didn't have any openings. On July 14th, the phone rang, a long distance call from San Francisco, California, for Mr. Herbert Langner. Herb talked to the man, Max Spealman, who was head man of the whole west coast, 10 major Stauffer plants. He was questioning Herb." [JFL]

"I was mainly a plant person working in production. The opening was for research. We spoke for about a half an hour. He wanted me to go to California to get together. [*HJL]

"Herb said, 'I am not going to take any days off from Armour to look at another job. I am on their payroll. I could leave on a Friday night, fly there, and return Sunday.' [*JFL]

"Because he was going on a vacation, he planned for his assistant, Mr. Wallace, to show me around and interview. On that Friday, there was a flight leaving from Midway at 6:30 or so. I left work, came home at 5:00, and Jenny drove me right to the airport. I didn't have any dinner. They didn't serve meals on the plane at that time. I asked the stewardess if she had any crackers or anything. She said I could have as much coffee as I would want. The woman behind me tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I would mind having a candy bar. Sher had a little boy with her. She said she always had something for the little one and he could bet by. I gave her a quarter for the candy bar." [*HJL]

"I had never flown before and I am afraid of high places. It turned out that I got a window seat. I figured I would sit and not look out the window for the whole 7.5-hour flight. But when we got past the Mississippi, I looked and had my eyes glued down until it got dark." [*HJL]

"I got to San Francisco. They put me up in St. Francis Hotel in Union Square. I went and I checked my flight. I was due to fly out Sunday morning. I could stay at the hotel two nights but I only stayed one night. On Saturday, he took me to the plant and when I came in I was still hungry. I walked out in Union Square and got something to eat. I made arrangements for me to fly back Saturday night." [*HJL]

"I landed around 11:00 at night and arranged for the flight home before taking the bus down to Union Square. I tried to find something to eat. It was 2 – 2:30 before I finally got to bed. I got up at 6 in the morning to go get something to eat. The air was cool. I was glad I had my coat on. It had been humid in Chicago when I left. It was a beautiful clear day in San Francisco, which was not ordinary for July. July and August are normally fog days." [*HJL]

"I was to be picked up by Wallace at 9:00. He drove me all over to the plant and Sausalito along the Great Highway and Skyline Boulevard. I was impressed. There was no fog at all that day. For dinner we went to Julia's Castle on the side of Telegraph Hill looking at the bay. It was beautiful." [*HJL]

"Well, at the interview, it turned out that they made me an offer. I told them that I was interested but told the story about Jenny being pregnant and after waiting nine years wwe were not going to move now. If they could wait until after the baby is born, I would come. Well, the opening is now." [*HJL]

"I was due to arrive home Sunday morning and the pilot said 'We are clouding up a little and there will be a delay.' and we flew around and around for at least a half hour. That was the day a plane crashed and there were quite a few people who were killed at the Midway Airport. Jenny got to the airport and saw all the police and the crash." [*HJL]

So, Herb finally accepted the job. They decided to wait for him until he arrived after the baby was born. Three weeks after Herbie was born, he was baptized. The Sunday after the baptism, Herb drove himself to California. He stopped in Denver." [*JFL]

"Jack was worried about snow. IT was just a couple of days after I left them that they had a lot of snow. From Denver, I drove all the way to Salt Lake City. When I was 40 or 50 miles from Salt Lake City, I was up in the mountains at a high elevation and it started raining. It was pouring. I was going about 10 mph down into the valley. I got all the way down in Salt Lake City, parked right in front of a motel, the rain was slackening off a little. I was checking in and heard the sound of my tire going flat. There was a gas station across the street so I told them I would take the room but first I needed to get my car over to the gas station to fix the tire. From there I drove to Reno. I stopped on the western end of Reno so I wouldn't have to drive through town in the morning. Just for kicks, I went into one of the gambling places. I put a nickel in one slot machine, a dime in another, and a quarter in a third, and a half a dollar in another one. And, I bought one Keno ticket. I made a nickel. Being a nickel ahead, I slept very well that night." [*HJL]

"Herb was working in San Francisco at Staffer Chemical Company as a Chemical 'Comical' Engineer." [*JFL]

"When Jenny arrived we were staying at the Bayside Motel. I had arranged living there in a little kitchenette. The day after she arrived, it began to rain and it rained. There were big floods in California at the time. We were on the second floor. We were waiting for our furniture to arrive. The rain continued and it rained until Christmas Eve. Our furniture had taken the long way around. The driver of the moving van had an ulcer attack in route. Instead of getting our furniture on the 10th of December, it came Christmas Eve. I went to the house in Burlingame while the movers were moving the furniture in. Jenny stayed with Herbie at the motel. The movers finished at 6:45 at night." [*HJL]

"I figured Jenny would be disappointed with the house because he said, 'You spent 50% more than we got form the Cicero house!' So, I thought I would work our way up to it. I took the long way going to our new house. I went through South City, San Bruno, the houses got a little better – not much though, then through Millbrae and then we came into Burlingame. The houses looked a lot better on the outside than the other two towns. I am going along slowly and pointing things out to her and Jenny said, 'How long are we going to ride?' So, then I said will here, I will stop. And I stopped in the driveway of the house I bought without her seeing. I said 'This is it.' and I think she answered 'This is it?!' So I figured she said the same thing I did, but it sounded different. [*HJL]

"We had gone to church in south San Francisco. It was Christmas Day. We walked in carrying Herb with the pooch on the leash. We looked and Jenny said 'What tree did that branch fall off of?' I took it that she didn't think much of it. This was 11:00 in the morning on Christmas Day. She looked at me and I looked at her and I said, 'Let's go.'"

"Before Herbie came, I purchased one of these heaters that you could plug into the cigarette lighter and you could heat up milk for nursing bottles. So, we drove across the bay into Oakland, Berkeley, and stopped to have Christmas Day lunch about 2 in the afternoon at the only hamburger stand that we could see. I bought three hamburgers, one for Jenny, one for me, and one for the pouch. We drove around and didn't get back home until 5:00. That was our first Christmas in California." [*HJL]

Herb was in the Optimist Club and the Rotary. "I enjoyed being in those clubs. In the Rotary Club there are various steps to go. We did things for kids, donations for scholarship and various things. I lucked out in that too. You have the President of the local club, the 1st Vice-President, the 2nd, and so on. I was the 2nd Vice-President, due to become the 1st Vice-President. Just about that time the fellow the step ahead of me got relocated by General Electric. He had to quit our club. So, I skipped one step. That was the best thing that ever happened. I didn't even realize that if we had followed the normal steps I would have gone to Dallas. The President of each group goes to the international convention. However, I got the one before that and the international convention was in Sao Paulo, Brazil!" [*HJL]

"The activities started on Friday evening and lasted until the next Thursday. Mother Theresa was at one of the sessions. You see people from Nigeria with their robes, …. There were 43 clubs in this southwester part, LA area. One of the fellows was a travel agent." [*HJL]

"A group of 52 or 53 of us flew to Rio De Janeiro and spent two nights in the Palace Hotel right on the main beach area. We went up that big cone mountain there. We traveled around a lot. We flew to Iguacu Falls between Argentina and Brazil and Paraguay. The falls has more water than Niagara Falls. It is a big area a couple miles around. The falls may not be as steep as Niagara Falls but it is very impressive. We stayed there overnight. Then we flew to Buenos Aires. For two or three nights we stayed there and went on tours around there." [*HJL]

"We flew to Chile for a brief stop and ended up in Lima, Peru. That was excellent. For one block or so around this British Square, everything looked great. Jenny and I went to church two blocks away and you get concerned about what is going on. You get told by the tourist guides who live there' Do not show any money. Do not show any jewelry, watches, necklace, … put them away. Watch out for the 10 – 11 year old children. Hang on to your purses. …'" [*HJL]

"While we were in Argentina they took us to a barbecue out where the natives hold their activities. First they showed us a game similar to polo using a basket on two ends of a field, like a basketball game on horses. There were three or four players on each team. We went to the barbecue with the group. In Argentina and Rio, other groups were also on vacation there, one was from Sweden. In this one place in particular, they served three or four hundred people on the second floor at long tables. Bob Dunbar was with us. He was a real extrovert. At that time he was about 70 years old. He went at his own pace on his own way. Bob Dunbar said, 'Let's liven up the party.' So he stands up on his chair and said something like 'I hope all you people understand English. We are going to give you our song.' So, we were singing an American song and everyone was cheering. Then a woman almost on the other side of the hall came running down and grabbed Bob Dunbar and gave him a kiss. 'Now, I show you how our country sings,' and they were singing. It was a riot. We were in Lima." [*HJL]

"We flew up to Cuzco, which is at the 10,000-foot mark. We arrived there around 10:00 in the morning. They took us to breakfast and served some tea to everyone while they told what we were going to do that afternoon and the next day. The tea was a drub. They said, 'When we finish here, each of you go to your rooms and stay there two hours. Try to take a little nap to get acclimated.' I didn't feel good and didn't go on the tour in the afternoon." [*HJL]

"The next day, by train, they took us to Machu Picchu. If you ever get a chance, go to Machu Picchu. The mountains are green as can be. Where the Inca people were living is terraced where the farms were. They had their own water supply near the top of the mountain. The walls were hand-picked and placed so tightly a knife blade can't fit. They had their own irrigation. We really enjoyed it. From there we went back to Lima and then flew home. It was a two and a half to three week vacation that we took while we were in Long Beach." [*HJL]

"When we were lining up the trip, we went to an orientation meeting and half the people were there when we got there. There was one Chinese couple sitting at a table by themselves. Jenny said, 'They seem out of place and lonely.' So, we got up and asked them if they minded if we sit with them. They said, 'No, of course.' They spoke excellent English. He was Henry Tseng. They were very elegantly dressed and quiet. We sat with them during the whole deal. Then we came two weeks later for the final meeting, we saw Henry and his wife and talked with them. It turned out Henry could buy out the whole state of Illinois. Henry wanted to study Electronics. He was over 75 years old on this trip. But, back in the twenties, he tried to get into Electronics. He went to the University of Chicago to get his degree. He got married to his sweetheart, her family did not like him. Her parents did not want her to marry Henry. They owned some kind of store and Henry was a nothing. Annie loved Henry so they got married. He vowed to the family that he would take care f her. He ended up in some radio deal with Philco or Motorola. He got the franchise to distribute in China. They lived in Hong Kong. Henry said it worked out real well for him. He ended up getting the whole China market because the other people with franchises would sell but what they didn't do was to check out the radio before they sold them. Half the time there was an adjustment or something that was needed. Henry made sure every single radio he received for selling was checked out and played well before he sold it. So, now he is a multi-millionaire. In South America, they have many jewels. They have the best topaz in the whole world. In Sao Paulo, Brazil, Jenny and I went into a Stern store, they are worldwide. Annie was there. Annie always wanted to get a souvenir from everywhere she went. Annie came back to the hotel with a bodyguard from Stern. She didn't buy a $100 - $200 souvenir, she would spend $10,000." [*HJL]

"We were in the desert from 1969 to 1974. In 1974 I went to work at the Long Beach plant and we lived in Fountain Valley." [*HJL]

"In 1974, Herb was transferred to Long Beach so we moved to Fountain Valley. Stauffer was selling their plant so we had to leave. After living and enjoying the quiet desert, we moved to this big hustling loud noisy city. We lived there for fifteen years. Of all the places that we have lived, that is the place I liked the least." [*JFL]

"When they shut down the Long Beach plant around 1982, Herb was sent to Louisville, Kentucky for about one year. We enjoyed that very much. After they shut that plant down, we came back. It seemed like he just had a job going around shutting down plants." [*JFL]

"In San Francisco, I went to West End, where there was talk of shutting down the plant in a matter of another five years. After five years they sold it to Kerr McGee. Then I went to the Long Beach plant. When I left the Long Beach plant in 1981 or 82, the Long Beach plant was sold a year and a half later. So, I went to Louisville. We thought I would be there three years but after one year they decided that was the end of that plant. So, I had been manager at the Boric Acid plant, which was shut down, I moved to West End and the plant got sold after five years. They transferred me to manage the Long Beach plant and that had to be shut down. Then I came back to Torrance down south where Staffer had a DDT plant. It was the only one in the country. That was shut down and I had to supervise the cleaning up, which lasted three quarters of a year." [*HJL]

"Then, I got transferred to Westport, Connecticut, as Manufacturing Manager. When I got moved to Westport, the corporate office, they had an underground garage, a real nice location. I parked the car in the garage. I knew quite a few people at the Westport office. 'Hey, what are you doing her Herb?' I said, 'Well, remember. I have shut down the Long Beach plant, the Boric Acid plant, the West End plant, I just got through with the Torrance. Now, I will really go all out. I will give you a year and I will get rid of this place for you.' I was just kidding. Well, in two years it was sold. The funny thing is that when the official word came out that they were selling it, I received about six or eight phone calls in my office immediately. One guy called form Minnesota, 'Herb, you really did it, didn't you?' I said, 'Did what?' 'You're shutting down another plant.'" [*HJL]

"When Herb got to Westport, after two years he got the golden handshake, but he didn't get the golden parasol. The vice president and president got those things. They just called on day and said, 'You are finished. In two weeks, you are being retired.' At first Herb felt pretty bad about it. But, once retired we decided we would just enjoy retirement and do some of the things we always wanted to do. Herb retired at the end of 1985. In 1986 we started doing some traveling and things that we wanted to do. We took a couple of cruises, one to Alaska and one to New Zealand and Australia in the beginning of 1987." [*JFL]

"From the time that Herbie graduated in May of 1977 we were preparing to get acquainted with Vicki's family. On July 4th, we were to go to a barbecue at her mother's house which was about ninety miles away from us in Fountain Valley. On the way, Herb got a kidney stone attack. We had to come back home, call the doctor, and get to the hospital. After he passed the stone, I asked the doctor to give Herb a physical. He had a few little problems, he was there, get it done. I know I wouldn't be able to get him back there. So, they did the physical and found a polyp that was about walnut-size. They had to operate on July 11th. He was supposed to be coming home in ten days. On the 20th or 21st, he started hemorrhaging so they did an emergency operation on him at 1:00 in the morning. They removed ten inches of his transverse colon and put in a colostomy. Ten days later, they had to operate again to put in drain tubes to his abdominal cavity because of the hemorrhaging. The poison got through his system. Irrigation did not help too much. He was running fevers of 104 - 105. He was in the ICU. The doctor did not think he was going to make it. I told him he better stick with him because Herb was going to make it. I stayed with him from morning through night. They called some other specialists and found he had clots in the main arteries of his legs and the clots were infected. So, they did surgery again on the 31st. It was about August 15th that we got notice that Aunt Bess passed away. I told Gram she could go if she wanted to but that Herb was being operated on again the next day. He finally did come home on September 17th. Needless to say, he had lost a lot of weight. And, I had lost a lot weight. And he had a lot of troubles. Herb and Vicki and her family had made arrangements for the wedding to be over Labor Day, but due to all of this, they postponed it until November. At the time of Herbie and Vicki's wedding, Herb was still weak and run down. He was only about 148 pounds." [*JFL]

Herb suffered from Parkinson's disease for many years. After they moved to Evansville, Indiana, to be closer to their son and his family, Herb's health took a nosedive. It is thought that a doctor mis-medicated for his Parkinson's disease, causing severe dibilitation. Herb spent 4 years in a nursing home.

Herbert J. LANGNER died 30 Nov 2004, in Evansville, Vanderburgh County, Indiana.

Herbert Joseph LANGNER

1923 - 2004