Obituaries
A Life Worth Remembering: Russell Langenderfer, Former Village Trustee
Visitation is today for Russell Langenderfer, a former Flossmoor village trustee and retired president of a family-owned trucking company.
Russell Langenderfer was able to retire at the tender age of 40 and spent the next 39 years traveling the world and being a civic-minded friend and family man.
“He was 40 when he retired,” said his son, Jeffrey Langenderfer, of Pompano Beach, FL. “He did a lot of community and charitable work after he retired.”
Mr. Langenderfer, 79, died Wednesday after a brief illness.
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Mr. Langenderfer was literally born into the family trucking business Southern Express Co. in 1932.
“Dad was born in a garage in Ohio,” his son said. “It was when his father was starting the family trucking company.”
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He succeeded his father as company president and later sold the trucking firm in the early 1970s.
Before then, however, transportation had been with him his whole life.
“He was a transportation and logistics officer when he was in the Army in France,” his son said. “And he had a pilot’s license at 14 before he had a driver’s license.”
Mr. Langenderfer moved to Flossmoor when he was in the fourth grade and, except for his stint in the Army and a brief time from 1960 to 1967 when he lived in Chicago Heights, he spent most of his life in Flossmoor.
“Mom and Dad split their time between Flossmoor and Florida until they moved to Florida full time in 2006,” their son said.
While in Flossmoor, the civic-minded Mr. Langenderfer served as a volunteer police officer, a Police and Fire Commissioner, and for eight years.
He also served on the board of First National Bank of Harvey and the Foundation Board of Ingalls Memorial Hospital.
An avid golfer, Mr. Langenderfer was also a terrific gin player. “He played in some tournaments in Las Vegas,” his son said.
In retirement, Mr. Langenderfer and his wife Marilyn traveled around the world.
“They went to Hong Kong and took cruises to Alaska and through the Panama Canal,” their son said. “But his favorite place was being at home with his family.”
“He was very loyal to his family and friends,” his son recalled.
Survivors include his wife of 56 years, Marilyn (nee Richmond); his son and a daughter, Cathy McBride, of Naperville; five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren; a sister and a brother.
Visitation will be Sunday, Nov. 6, from 2-8 p.m. at . The funeral will be Monday, Nov. 7, at 10 a.m. at .
