Lawrence Joseph (Leader) Langenhorst, age 87, passed away peacefully and entered eternal life on Friday March 8, 2019 at the Brown County Nursing Home. He was born on July 9, 1931 in Lincoln, NE, to August and Mary (Pruitt) Leader, the oldest of two children. In 1943 Larry moved to Mayville, Wisconsin with his mother and step-father Conrad Langenhorst along with his new brothers and sisters of the Langenhorst family.
It was during his time at Mayville High School that he met a lovely lady by the name of Shirley Arndt who would become his wife on July 12, 1952. After graduation from High School in 1949, Larry enlisted in the Navy and had assignments stateside, in the Mediterranean, and most notably in the Panama Canal Zone where he and Shirley who was also a nurse in Panama had their first son Michael. Shortly thereafter, Larry’s enlistment ended, and he returned to Wisconsin settling in Berlin where he and Shirley had two more sons, Jeffrey, and Brian.
At the time of returning to Berlin Larry became involved in the family rendering business and physically built the Berlin Rendering plant from the ground up. Larry continued in the management of the Berlin operation his entire career beginning with the family ownership, transitioning to the ownership by Nick Beucher and Sons of Chicago, IL. and later becoming the District Manager for National By-Products.
Larry along with his brothers also expanded the original operation to include Circle 5 Farms, Circle 5 Feeds, and the Berlin Landfill. One of the joys of Larry’s life was to also be a strong member and contributor to the National Renderers Association where he held all the offices of Area V as well as a member of the National Board of Directors for many years where lifelong friendships were established and many travel memories made. Larry also found time to give back to the church and the community.
He was a longtime member of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Berlin and served on the School Board, Board of Trustees, Board of Elders and was also the project manager for the building of the current church. Larry also loved to sing and was a member of the church choir and was also the soloist for many funerals singing the “Lord’s Prayer”. Larry was a member of the Berlin Rotary Club and Berlin Jaycee’s and was awarded the “Man of the Year” award in 1966.
He also served on the Berlin City Council as an alderman for many years and was very instrumental in the success of the Berlin Hospital serving on it’s Board for many years. Larry was also a bleacher bum spending many hours watching his sons play sports. Upon his retirement in 2000 Larry and Shirley continued their travel adventures with their motorhome and also visited many foreign countries until Shirley’s untimely passing in 2004.
Larry was one of the lucky one’s and was able to find another love in his life and married Laura Richards in 2006. The two of them continued to travel throughout the world and also spent time with the most important people in their lives, their families. Larry also loved his time at the Cabin, also known as he “August Leader Lodge”.
To him, this was a place where friends and family made many memories. Larry is survived by his wife, Laura; sons, Michael (Marlene) Langenhorst, Sturgeon Bay, Jeffrey (Janice) Langenhorst, Green Bay, and Brian (Jodi) Langenhorst, LaCrosse; stepson, Mark (Sally) Sanders; Oshkosh; stepdaughter, Sharon Sanders, Oshkosh; grandchildren, Erica (Tyler) Thomas, Erin (John) Hollister, Amber (Jeremy) Young, Jason (Hallie) Langenhorst, Nick and Lauren Langenhorst; stepgrandchildren, Kyle and Kevin Grahn, Tara (Rick) Schiessl, Clint (Erin) Sanders; great-grandchildren, Jake, Madeline, Isabela Thomas, Sophia and Brianna Hollister, Cody, Andrew and Natalie Young, Benjamin and Sam Langenhorst; step great-grandchildren, Evan and Jack Schiessl, Colin Sanders; stepmother, Martha Leader; sisters, Mary Ann Leader, Margaret (George) Wheeler; brother, Conrad (Ruth) Langenhorst; brother-in-law, Steven Stortz. Thank you to the staff of Brown County Nursing Home for the loving care of our Dad.
Memorials will be donated to St. John’s Lutheran Church in Berlin. “The three most important things to me are My Lord, My Family and My Friends. Please celebrate my life in eternity To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of Lawrence “Larry” Langenhorst please visit our Sympathy Store.
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