Parcourez la nécrologie de Harold Joseph William Lang Wednesday April 19th 2023 résidant dans la province Ontario pour le détail des funérailles

Lang, Harold (1934 – 2023)
Harold Joseph William Lang died peacefully on April 19, 2023 at the age of 89. He was known to most as Harley as well as Dad, Grandpa and to many more as Major Lang. Harley was born on January 21, 1934 in Sturgeon Falls, Ontario. He was the first of six children born to Charlie and June. His formative years were spent in the West Bay area of Lake Nipissing near the town of Monetville with brief sojourns to Sturgeon Falls and even to Detroit for a year of school. The family considers it miraculous that Harley made it to adulthood with the adventures and misadventures he and his brothers Myles and Patrick frequently got up to. For example, there is a small island in the Sturgeon River that has less vegetation on it due to the combination of Lang brothers, bows and arrows, fire and kerosene.
Harley’s lifelong passion for flying began when he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force after finishing high school. His career began as a navigator in Lancaster bombers doing long-range maritime patrols. He became an expert in the listening devices used in anti-submarine warfare. This resulted in a secondment to the US Navy and flights over the Vietnamese jungle to drop and monitor listening devices during the war. He later returned to Viet Nam in the Canadian contingent of the UN Peacekeeping Forces. He retired from the military in 1979 after nearly 30 years, having spent the last part of his career at National Defense Headquarters in Ottawa. It was there that Harley acquired his pilot’s license and taught ground school to student pilots. During this time he bought his first airplane, a Cessna 180. It was the first of several aircraft he would own, culminating in a de Havilland Beaver that he recovered from Australia, refurbished and continued to fly into his 80’s.
In his retirement Harley did not sit in the sun and complain about kids on his lawn. Harley was a jack-of-all trades and loved to use his skill sets. He could fix a car, construct a house, wire a sawmill, build a dock and produce fine woodworking pieces. He had numerous other skills that were the envy of us all. It is important to note that projects were always designed and completed at a level of strength and quality that he referred to as “railway grade.” When the work was done, he could switch to one of several musical instruments he played with considerable skill. The piano was always his favorite and it was a pleasure for all to hear him play.
Being in the military means seeing the world, or at least Canada. When he was stationed in Comox, BC Harley met and married Jean Butler. They had their first son, David, in 1961 while based in Summerside, PEI and their second son, Ian, in 1964 while stationed in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In 1985 he married fellow pilot Elizabeth Barnes who joined him in the home he had built on the shore of Lake Nipissing. They remained married and devoted to one another for nearly 38 years. Together they embarked on many projects from publishing a local newsletter to restoring planes and just enjoying each other’s company. Harley will be remembered for his generosity, his kindness, and his great sense of humor. You could take any problem to him and he would figure out how to solve it, and you would have fun and laughs along the way.
Harley leaves his wife and partner-in-life Elizabeth, sons Dave and Ian, daughter-in-law Lori, grandchildren Steve and Tiffany, great grandchildren Mackenzie and Bentley, brother Normie, sisters Barbara and Janet, and many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by brothers Myles and Patrick. Thank you to all the staff at the West Nipissing General Hospital for the excellent care Harley received.
A Celebration of Life will be held during the summer.

Wednesday April 19th 2023

theoret bourgeois funeral home

Décès pour la Ville:Sturgeon-Falls, Province: Ontario

avis deces Harold Joseph William Lang Wednesday April 19th 2023

nécrologie Harold Joseph William Lang Wednesday April 19th 2023

Nous offrons nos plus sincères condoléances à la famille et aux amis de Harold Joseph William Lang Wednesday April 19th 2023 et espérons que leur mémoire pourra être une source de réconfort pendant cette période difficile. Vos pensées et vos mots aimables sont grandement appréciés.