Obituary of Louise Lang

Louise M. Lang, 100, of New Britain, Conn., passed away peacefully on August 19, 2015. A lifelong resident of New Britain, she was the daughter of the late Joseph and Alice (Taucher) Lang, and while her parents named her Louise, everyone knew her as Dina. A devout Catholic, she received the sacraments and taught Sunday school at St. Peter's Parish, joined St. Francis Church during middle age and returned to St. Peter's in her 90s. She attended local elementary and junior high schools, then Moody's Secretarial School in Hartford, because that's what many young women did during the Great Depression. Upon graduation, she found a secretarial job at New Britain Machine, where she worked for two years. But she had bigger plans, and her career trajectory took a major turn after landing a job at Connecticut Bank & Trust in Hartford. In just a few short years, Dina moved from the secretarial pool to an executive position in the bank's trust department. As one of the first female vice presidents in the local banking industry, she handled the financial and personal affairs of some of CBT's wealthiest clients, including the Buckley family of New York City and Sharon, Conn. Company policy forced her to retire at age 65, and Dina moved gracefully into the next phase of her life. She had not waited for retirement to travel -- family members of a certain age are well versed in her exotic tales about riding camels in Egypt, drinking steins of beer in Austria (her ancestral home), flying through thunderstorms in Hong Kong and visiting Buddhist temples in Japan. But now she had more time for adventure and she made the most of it. The United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East and Far East saw lengthy visits, photo albums strained under the weight of her trips and old travel stories were replaced with new ones. As the years passed, life's simpler pleasures -- viewing a great-nephew's baseball game or a great-niece's school play, venturing to the Bushnell for a cultural event, singing hymns at Sunday Mass, watching episodes of "Lawrence Welk" or "Matlock," baking a cake, preparing Saturday dinner, reading a romance novel, rooting for the UConn women's basketball team, sipping a nice red wine -- brought her happiness and joy. But to know Dina is to understand her commitment to and love for family and friends. Her home on Stanley Street (where she lived independently well into her 99th year) served as the family's nerve center. Although single all her life, she was the matriarch -- a rock for five generations of Langs and a role model who showed what a life well-lived looks like. Dina was a daughter, sister, sister-in-law, aunt, great-aunt, great-great-aunt and friend like no other, and everyone who knew her loved her dearly and will cherish her memory. Her family is grateful that she didn't suffer the usual ailments of a great age until the very end, and we are thankful for the opportunity to celebrate her 100th birthday on June 7, 2015. For family and friends, the party was both an affirmation of all that she meant to us and a chance to say goodbye without realizing it. Dina is survived by two brothers, Ralph Lang of West Hartford and Robert Lang of Kensington; a sister-in-law, Marion Lang, also of West Hartford; and a legion of nieces and nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews, great-great-nephews and a great-great-niece. Apart from her parents, Dina was predeceased by two sisters, Marian Oliver and Marguerite Kufta, both of Newington; two brothers, Kenneth Lang of New Britain and Harold Lang of Wallingford; two sisters-in-law, Joan (Gillis) Lang of Kensington and Evelyn (Waslewski) Lang of Wallingford; and a brother-in-law, Leo Oliver of Granby. Special thanks go to her devoted caregivers: Sandi, Asha and Nordalia. Funeral services will be held Wednesday (Aug. 26, 2015) with a Mass of Christian Burial at 10:00AM at St. Peter Church 98 Franklin Sq. New Britain. Burial will follow in St. Mary Cemetery, New Britain. Visitation will be Wednesday from 9:00 to 9:45 AM at the Farrell Funeral Home 110 Franklin Sq. New Britain. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Peter Church