Ruth Clow Langston

GREENSBORO - Ruth Clow Langston, of Friends Homes West in Greensboro, N.C., died in her one hundred and first year on Tuesday, June 5, 2007.

A public school teacher in the Raleigh area during the depression and again during the 1950's, she also was an historian in the Colonial Records section of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources (Archives and History) for many years. After retiring, she continued to work part time well into her 80's, assisting in the documentation and indexing of colonial court records.

Born June 23, 1906, in Corydon, Iowa, to Gladys Holcomb (Lowe) and Lavender Parks Clow, her childhood was spent with a younger sister, Mildred, and two still younger brothers, Keith and Kenneth in southern Iowa, where her father was a dentist. Graduating valedictorian of her high school class, she attended Stephens College and Iowa Wesleyan before receiving her BA degree in History from the University of Iowa. Her college sorority was Alpha Xi Delta.

As a young, single, seventh grade teacher in Iowa, her most famous student was Baseball Hall of Fame member, Bob Feller.

She married Allen Langston, Raleigh attorney, in 1933 in the Chapel Hill garden, 111 Ridge Lane, of the UNC Law School librarian. From her wedding day until her death, North Carolina was her beloved home.

In Raleigh, she was a founding member of the Readers Club, treasurer of the Raleigh Woman's Club, and took on many leadership roles in the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd. She was famous among Fallon Park neighborhood children of the 40's and 50's for her home-baked cookies.

An avid follower of politics, well into her 90's, she and her husband were active in the Frank Porter Graham US Senate and the William B. Umstead and W. Kerr Scott gubernatorial campaigns.

She was predeceased by her husband, Allen Langston,

She is survived by her son, Allen Langston, Jr. of St. Louis, Missouri and his wife, Marilyn Holmes and her daughter, Sarah Langston Cowan and her husband, J. Donald Cowan, Jr. of Raleigh. Also surviving are four grandchildren, Susannah Langston Robinson (Lary) of Tampa, Florida, Macy Allen Langston (Darina) of St. Charles, Illinois, Coleman MacDonalson Cowan of New York City and Duren Cowan Banks (Brett) of Potomac, Maryland; six great grandchildren, Schuyler, Joshua and Noah Robinson, Pierce and Alaina Langston, and Caitlin James Banks were her special delight in recent years.

The family will receive friends who would like to reminisce beginning at 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon, June 24, at daughter, Sarah's home, 400 Scotland Street in Raleigh.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to The Shepherd's Vision Fund, Church of the Good Shepherd, Post Office Box 28024, Raleigh, NC 27611; Friends Homes West, 6100 West Friendly Avenue, Greensboro, NC 27410; or Woman's Club of Raleigh, 3300 Woman's Club Drive, Raleigh, NC 27612.

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