Mary Ola Langston

1918 - 2016

Mary Ola Langston, 98, passed from this life to the presence of her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on April 19, 2016.

Born March 18, 1918 as the oldest child of Ernest Daniel and Mary King Pierce in Piedmont, Alabama, her family moved to Jacksonville, FL in the early 1920's. Growing up in Jacksonville, she was privileged to study piano, voice, and dance, developing a love for music that she would pass on to her children and grandchildren.

During the Great Depression, she met Jack Langston, a native of Smith Creek of Wakulla County, FL. They were married December 26, 1936 and moved to the Langston family homestead in Smith Creek. Together they started Jack Langston's Fish Camp (later known as Jack's Place) on the Ochlockonee River, a business that continues to this day.

After having four children, Mary Ola went back to school to become a nurse, completing the program and serving Tallahassee Memorial Hospital for five years. She left TMH to help Jack run the fish camp, a place she dearly loved. She later provided home nursing care for her mother, Mary, until her death. After Jack's death in 1999, she operated the camp and boat landing until age 94, when the physical limitations of declining health restricted her activities.

Mary Ola was predeceased by her parents, her husband, Jack, two daughters, Mary Frances Langston Hosford and Joan Delinda Langston Swindall, and a grandson, Michael Thorpe. She is survived by her daughter Barbara Ann Langston Lescoe and her son Gerald D. Langston; 8 grandchildren: Ken Hosford, Lisa Hosford Smith, Russell Hosford, John Lescoe, Perri Ann Martin, Shawnie Lynn Stelly, Lori Lynn Cox, and Brett D. Langston. 22 great-grandchildren and 5 great-great-grandchildren; and a host of nieces, nephews, and friends, including Nancy Arrant, her roommate at the Blountstown Health and Rehab Center.

Services were held Friday, April 22, 2016, 2:00 p.m. graveside at Mt. Elon Baptist Church cemetery in Smith Creek, FL.