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Alberta Mae Croyle Lang
Alberta Mae Croyle Lang, age 98, of Messiah Village, Mechanicsburg, Pa, passed
away peacefully on November 30, 2013.
Alberta was born March 26, 1915 on her grandfather's farm near Fenelton, Pa. Her
father was James Boyd (J.B.) Croyle and her mother was Pearl Agatha (Murtland)
Croyle.
Her older brother, the late Joseph Earl Croyle, was born in July 1913.
Her parents separated just before she was born. From the house near Fenelton the
Murtland family moved to a house on Race Street, Worthington, Pa., in Armstrong
County.
Her mother worked in the Graff Woolen Mill at the far west end of Main Street,
Worthington, Pa., near the Buffalo Creek.
Her grandfather pumped wells for the T.W. Phillips Company, a natural gas
utility. Today, it serves about 60,000 customers in western Pennsylvania under
the operation of Peoples TWP LLC as of May 24, 2011. Peoples TWP LLC was founded
in 1896 and is based in Butler, Pa.
In 1924, her mother remarried to Samuel B. Yockey, another worker at the mill.
She attended Worthington-West Franklin High School, Worthington, Pa., and was
the valedictorian of the first class to graduate from the new school in 1933.
While the students waited for the new building they had their first and second
year classes in the grade school. There were 28 members of the class. Alberta
wanted to be a teacher and went to Grove City College, Grove City, Pa.
She remembered one night in the winter when the dam on Buffalo Creek broke.
Another time her mother saved a boy from drowning in the mill race in front of
the house. The street that ran in front of her house ran alongside the mill race
which led from the dam locks down to a gristmill. There the road made a circle
so that wagons going to the grist mill could turn around and come back after
dropping off their load of grain. The miller’s little girl, Marie Yockey, was a
friend of hers and she remembered playing with her in the mounds of grain in
huge square bins in the mill.
After graduating from college in 1937, she went to work at Enon Valley High
School, southwest of New Castle, Pa. Her starting salary was $90 a month! She
met Karl F. Lang while at Grove City College (two years her senior) and they
were married at the college chapel on September 1, 1940. She left her teaching
job in 1941 and moved to Pittsburgh where Karl worked as a food technologist for
the H.J. Heinz Co.
She lived in the Pittsburgh area for approximately 45 years where they raised
three children. She was active in several charitable causes and helped start the
Meals-on-Wheels program there.
She was active in Christ Lutheran Church in Millvale, Pa, and was a fierce
contract bridge player. In 1985, Alberta and Karl moved to a retirement
community, Messiah Village, near Mechanicsburg, Pa. Alberta was a past member of
the Highland Park Woman's Club in Camp Hill, Pa. Karl F. Lang died in 1995 and
Alberta continued to live at Messiah Village until her death on November 30,
2013 at age 98. At Karl's death, they had been married for 55 years.
She is survived by two daughters, Barbara K. Martin and husband, Parker E. of
Carlisle, Pa., Bonnie J. Dees of Flat Rock, NC.; son Karl R. Lang and wife, Mary
C. of Oak Hill, Virginia, eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Besides her parents and husband, Karl Frederick, she was preceded in death by
her brother, Joseph Earl Croyle.
Interment in Rolling Greens Memorial Park, Camp Hill, Pa.
Friends wishing to make contributions in memory of Alberta are directed to
Hospice of Central PA, 1320 Linglestown Road., Harrisburg, Pa., 17110, or a
charity of their choice. |
