Langdon Gabeler Williams

June 27, 1926 - Oct. 28, 2016

Langdon was born and grew up in Daytona Beach, Fla., the third and youngest child in his family. He never forgot the endless, sunny days on the Atlantic beaches and the many peaceful afternoons reading in the lobby of the Williams Hotel. Although the Great Depression turned his life upside down in many respects, he cherished the love of his mother and beloved nanny Emma all of his life. His father died tragically when Langdon was still a young man.

Immediately upon graduation from Seabreeze High, Langdon entered the Navy and spent the closing months of WWII serving with a motor torpedo boat squadron in the Philippines. He returned from the war with vague ambitions of attending Georgia Tech, but when he learned that Florida State College for Women was accepting its first class of men in order to accommodate the many soldiers returning from war, he seized an irresistible opportunity. Langdon was the first geologist to graduate from what had become Florida State University.

While attending FSU, Langdon dated a freshman co-ed, and fellow Floridian, Joyce Alexine Hinson. They were married in Blowing Rock, N.C., on Aug. 19, 1950, and recently celebrated their 66th anniversary. The newlyweds moved to Evansville, Ind., where Langdon took his first job in the oil business, working for Ryan Oil Company. Michael, Ted and David were all born in Evansville, and, in 1959, the young family moved to Billings, where Langdon was employed as district manager for Phillips Petroleum Company. Several years later, Langdon declined a move to West Texas offered by Phillips, went to work for himself, and subsequently enjoyed more than 50 years of independent exploration activity in a business he dearly loved.

Life was wonderful. Langdon was an Eagle Scout, a little league coach, a director on the board of the Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch, a director on the board of his church, a director and president of the Billings Petroleum Club, an enthusiastic golfer, an avid reader and a longtime denizen of the beaches on Maui. He could recite, until the very end, much of William Cullen Bryant's "Thanatopsis." And it has finally, peacefully, come to be.

Langdon is survived by Joyce; his sons and their spouses David (Gina), Michael (Lena) and Ted (Kate); and grandchildren Carolyn and Hank. Dave and Gina, both nurses, and staff at Billings Clinic and RiverStone Health Hospice House gave expert and loving care in Langdon's final days.

His life will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 3, at the First United Methodist Church, 2800 Fourth Ave. N.

Memorial gifts may be made to Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch Foundation (2050 Overland Ave., Billings 59102), RiverStone Health Foundation (P.O. Box 1562, Billings 59103), the Billings Food Bank (2112 Fourth Ave. N., Billings 59101), or the charitable organization of one's choice.