Imogene (Sue) Clark Langer

Sue Langer was born Imogene Shaw, but within hours of her birth, her father began calling her Susie — a name that stuck for life. She attended a one-room schoolhouse in South Williamsport, PA and didn’t encounter indoor plumbing until she was eight. Overcoming poverty, anti-Catholic bigotry, and a difficult home life, she thrived in school and graduated from what was then Kutztown State Teachers College in 1962. In the summers she worked as a waitress at the Jersey Shore, where she ate saltwater taffy and once won a Twist contest.

A gifted illustrator, she taught art in the Philadelphia public schools before beginning work at a series of printing houses around the Main Line. She met Uri Langer, a dashing Israeli sailor and engineer, and married him in 1968, converting to Judaism along the way. They raised two children in Ardmore and Wynnewood. Losing her daughter, Shira, as a teenager was the greatest tragedy of her life, but with love, family, and a supportive community she eventually overcame her grief. Sue and Uri retired and moved to Los Angeles to live with her son and his family in 2017.

Sue loved reading, art, breakfast, and gardening and taught her kids and grandkids to look out for and befriend the neediest among us. Always the first to volunteer for any committee, she gave to every organization that found her but never spent money on herself. No waiter ever went untipped; no dog un-pet; no supermarket clerk or taxi driver escaped without telling their life stories. Her kindness and loving spirit animated and inspired her family and all those she encountered.

Her life was long but still too short for the many who loved her. She died peacefully at home with her husband and son at her side. She is survived and dearly missed by her husband, Uri; her son, Yossi; and her grandsons, Isaac and Elie. In lieu of flowers or gifts, please donate to the American Cancer Society.