Mary B. Langley

Mary Frances (Brock) Langley, formerly of Storrs, CT., died of natural causes on January 3, 2011 at the age of 88, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Mary was born February 22, 1922, in Shelbyville, Tennessee, the only child of Robert Harris Brock and Mamie Estella (Denham) Brock. When Mary was still too young to remember the country, her family moved to Nashville, where her parents both taught school while her grandmother managed the household. Mary attended Vanderbilt University and Peabody Demonstration School, where she was a member of the Tri Delta sorority and graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a degree in psychology. She worked for a small upstart company known as IBM, fixing computer problems and sometimes doing manually what a computer had failed to do properly. In 1944, she married Robert Shelton ("Bob") Langley, just two weeks before he shipped out to Europe to fight in World War II. Following the war, Mary moved to Europe with her husband, who served with the army of occupation near Stuttgart, Germany for two years. In 1947, the couple moved to Paris, where they spent two years. Mary wrote articles about life as a military spouse in post-war Europe which were published in the Nashville Tennessean, her hometown newspaper. Upon Bob's and Mary's return to the United States in 1949, they lived with Mary's parents while Bob completed his bachelor's and master's degrees at Peabody College in Nashville, Tennessee. The couple then moved to Evanston, Illinois, where Bob worked toward his doctorate at Northwestern University. During their time in Illinois, Mary bore their two children, Linda and Brock, and ceased work outside the home to focus on her role as a mother. Following the career of her husband, Mary and the family lived in Athens, Georgia; McLean, Virginia; and Bad Godesberg, Germany before settling in Storrs, Connecticut in 1967. Shortly thereafter Mary resumed her career as a systems analyst in the Student Records Department at the University of Connecticut. After her retirement from full-time work, she continued to provide systems analysis consulting to UCONN, and she assisted the university in 1999 in preparations for the "Y2K" transition. Mary was a lover of life in its many forms, to whom the creative quest for perfection seemed as natural as breathing. She loved to travel and explore with her family, and found her way to Kenya, Brazil, Peru and China as well as most of Europe. Raised in the traditions of southern hospitality, she taught her children that etiquette is the core of diplomacy, and opens the world to those who practice it well. Mary studied ceramics and often served food in bowls she had made herself. She made sure there were pansies in her garden even after she could no longer plant them herself. She learned to live with birds, frogs, rodents and even snakes as pets in the house, and was ready to explore new territory whenever her family or friends asked it of her. She could be trusted with any confidence or confession, and seemed to understand most of them. It never occurred to her that any person would do any less than she would to complete a task well or to help a fellow human being, and this attitude inspired many to reach beyond their previous limits. Mary was active in civic organizations, including the League of Women Voters, was an avid tennis player into her late 70's, and she supported many charitable causes. She formed and led a local investment club, and she shared her knowledge of computers with other seniors via adult education classes in the Storrs area. Mary was predeceased by her parents and by Robert Shelton Langley, her husband of 64 years. She is survived by her two children, Linda Mary Langley of Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Robert Brock Langley of Austin, Texas; her three grandchildren, Laura Elizabeth Langley of Little Rock, Arkansas, Rachel Rose Langley of Austin, Texas, and Mary Morgan Langley of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. A memorial service will be held at the Storrs Congregational Church, North Eagleville Rd., Storrs, CT. at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 6th. There are no calling hours. In lieu of flowers, charitable donations may be sent in Mary's name to Storrs Congregational Church, 2 North Eagleville Rd., Storrs, Connecticut 06268. Arrangements are through the Potter Funeral Home, Willimantic. Please visit www.potterfh.com for online memorial guest book.