Memorials › James Blakely “J.B.” Langston

James Blakely “J.B.” Langston

13 Jan 1918 – 12 Mar 1999

Birth13 Jan 1918
Death12 Mar 1999
Added byDavid Langston on 29 Dec 2025
FaGhttps://www.findagrave.com/memorial/291198594

Gravesite details

James Blakely Langston was cremated and his ashes were reverently spread in a private ceremony in the Colorado countryside.

Bio

Born in rural Texas, James Blakely Langston ("J.B") grew up as the eldest in a family of eight children. After graduating in 1936 from New London High School, he attended Texas A.M. University where he was in the Corps of Cadets and a tackle on the football squad. When World War 2 broke out, he enlisted in the army and was promoted to First Sergeant of a headquarters company in the 104th Division -- among the first U.S. units to meet the Russians at the Elbe River. He participated in liberating the Nordhausen death camp and was awarded the purple heart and the bronze star for valor. With the G.I. Bill, he attended Seattle Pacific University, majoring in vocal music (he had a powerful and lovely tenor voice) in preparation for ordination as a church minister of music at posts in Texas and Oklahoma. He enjoyed developing fresh choral arrangements for his singers, and through music and youth sports, he championed new ways for showing the post-war baby boom positive directions for living. Eventually leaving full-time church work, he was appointed manager of a state office of employment (that he regarded as a secular equivalent of a religious calling to service) and he continued his commitment to directing music in local churches. On retirement, he expanded his lifelong interest in arts and crafts into becoming a stained-glass artist, constructing windows for businesses, schools, and churches while living in Oregon and Colorado. Teaching his children more by example than precept, he led them to recognize the importance of dedication, of hard work, and finding the fun in what they did. In 1943, stationed at Camp Adair, Oregon, he met and married Marietta Elizabeth Hubbell, the daughter of a pastor in Albany, OR. His children -- David, Susan, Melissa, and Lori -- and two grandchildren -- Christopher and Elizabeth -- all loved and respected him and feel fortunate to have witnessed and learned from his generosity, his ready sense of humor, and his fatherly counsel.

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