Willard Allen Lang passed away peacefully on May 14, 2019, in Laguna Hills, California, at age 78.Known as Bill to friends and family, he had been a resident of Laguna Woods since 2012 when he moved from Kansas City, Missouri, where he lived for 37 years.
Bill was born in the San Fernando Valley of California on April 29, 1941, to Willard Albert Lang and Carola Mildred Jorgenson Lang.He was preceded in death by his parents and sister JoAnn Lang.He graduated from Birmingham High School in Van Nuys and California State University, Northridge, where he met his wife of 55 years Stephanie Lee Halter Lang.They married on February 1, 1964, in Granada Hills, California.His sons Stephan Allen Lang and Michael Willard Lang were born in Thousand Oaks, California.The family moved to Northern Virginia in 1971 and then to Kansas City, Missouri, in 1975, where his daughter Branda Leanne Lang Colson was born.
Bill was an accountant but worked in a variety of industries over his long career.He started in aerospace working for Northrop Corporation and its subsidiaries until the early 1980s.While working for Northrop, Bill traveled widely for work to destinations like Saudi Arabia, Libya, Lebanon, Brazil and the Philippines.He enjoyed starting a new aerospace firm in the mid 1980s and afterwards was chief financial officer for an photography company, a forklift manufacturer, and eventually a landscaping and gardening supply company.He finally "laid down his pencils" and retired from Grass Pad in 2012 at age 71.
He enjoyed working at Grass Pad for many years in part because it helped nurture his lifetime gardening hobby.He always kept a beautiful vegetable garden and passed the love on to his three children.He worked his plot in Laguna Woods regularly until his final months.Bill also loved a good poker game, at any ante, and truly enjoyed the time with his poker buddies.
Bill Lang was hard working, persistent, patient, kind, thoughtful man, who always did the right thing, even when it wasn't easy.He was loved and respected by almost everyone he ever met.In addition to his wife Stephanie and his children, Steve, Mike, and Brandy, he is survived by his grandchildren, Veronica Lang, Nathalie Lang, Ellie Colson, Celia Colson, Lexi Colson, and Zumi Huff, as well as his children's partners, Karin Lang, Bernie Colson, and Leslie Huff.
There will be a memorial service on Saturday, May 18, at 4:00 p.m. at McCormick and Son Mortuary at 1795 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach, California.