Michael Gregory Langer was born 7 Dec 1938 in Paducah, KY and died 26 Apr 1998 in St. Paul, Ramsey Co., MN.
MICHAEL LANGER, WHO FOUNDED MUSEUM OF AVIATION, DIES AT 59
When Michael Langer of Roseville first fell in love with airplanes, he was a young boy living in St. Paul's Como Park neighborhood.
Driven by his passion for wings and propellers, Langer would frequently hop on his bike and pedal the 15 miles to the Anoka County Airport in Blaine. Once there, he would wash and fuel aircraft and perform other chores in exchange for free flying lessons. He never told his parents about his love affair until he was ready to get his license.
He was only 14 and, for a time, the youngest pilot in the United States, said his eldest son, Gregory Langer of Roseville.
Langer, who eventually founded the American Wings Aviation Museum at the same airport where he learned to fly 45 years earlier, died Sunday of cancer. He was 59.
Langer graduated with an engineering degree from the University of Minnesota and became vice president and general manager of Dynetics Systems, an electronics company based in Elk River, but he was ''devoted, consumed, fanatical'' when it came to aviation, Gregory Langer said.
''It was his hobby, but it could have been a second occupation,'' his son said. ''In his adult years, he was a flight instructor and helped many, many people get their private and commercial licenses. Anyone interested in aviation would find a true brother in my dad.''
Besides the museum, Langer also helped organize the airport's ''Discover Aviation Days,'' an event that draws tens of thousands of visitors annually. He also co-founded the popular OV-1 Mohawk Association, a group of aviation enthusiasts that quickly grew from a dozen members in the early 1990s to more than 600 today.
During the early 1960s, Langer was a member of the U.S. Army Aviation Test Board. Part of his job involved periodic trips to Vietnam to test the armament on the OV-1 Mohawk, a twin turboprop surveillance airplane that also was used in the Persian Gulf War, said Len Burgers, a longtime colleague from Mounds View.
More than 20 years later, Langer bid on and eventually purchased the same aircraft at an Army surplus sale. The restored Mohawk now serves as the centerpiece of the American Wings museum Langer founded in 1985. A building to house the museum, which is funded and staffed entirely by volunteers, was dedicated last November.
''We used to say that the museum was Mike, and Mike was the museum, but he always told us it wasn't for him, but it was a museum for aviation,'' Burgers said. ''What he has left behind, what he has created, will be there for a long while.''
Langer was a devoted husband and father who frequently took his wife, Carol, and their three sons on vacations. He always rented an airplane and they flew together, Gregory Langer said. ''There was no need to wait in line at the airport,'' he said. ''In fact, I had never flown commercially until I was 26 years old.'' When his three sons were between 5 and 15 years of age, their father would take them to the airport every weekend, Gregory Langer said. ''He got free labor for 10 years, and we inherited his love for the museum and the airport.''
Langer is also survived by twin sons, Jeffrey of St. Paul and Steven of Apple Valley.
Visitation will be 4 to 8 p.m. today at Holcomb-Henry-Boom North Chapel in Shoreview. Services will be at noon Wednesday in St. Rose of Lima Church in Roseville. Burial will be in Roselawn Cemetery in Roseville.
Info and Obit provied bty Gene Gross Relative.
MICHAEL LANGER, WHO FOUNDED MUSEUM OF AVIATION, DIES AT 59
When Michael Langer of Roseville first fell in love with airplanes, he was a young boy living in St. Paul's Como Park neighborhood.
Driven by his passion for wings and propellers, Langer would frequently hop on his bike and pedal the 15 miles to the Anoka County Airport in Blaine. Once there, he would wash and fuel aircraft and perform other chores in exchange for free flying lessons. He never told his parents about his love affair until he was ready to get his license.
He was only 14 and, for a time, the youngest pilot in the United States, said his eldest son, Gregory Langer of Roseville.
Langer, who eventually founded the American Wings Aviation Museum at the same airport where he learned to fly 45 years earlier, died Sunday of cancer. He was 59.
Langer graduated with an engineering degree from the University of Minnesota and became vice president and general manager of Dynetics Systems, an electronics company based in Elk River, but he was ''devoted, consumed, fanatical'' when it came to aviation, Gregory Langer said.
''It was his hobby, but it could have been a second occupation,'' his son said. ''In his adult years, he was a flight instructor and helped many, many people get their private and commercial licenses. Anyone interested in aviation would find a true brother in my dad.''
Besides the museum, Langer also helped organize the airport's ''Discover Aviation Days,'' an event that draws tens of thousands of visitors annually. He also co-founded the popular OV-1 Mohawk Association, a group of aviation enthusiasts that quickly grew from a dozen members in the early 1990s to more than 600 today.
During the early 1960s, Langer was a member of the U.S. Army Aviation Test Board. Part of his job involved periodic trips to Vietnam to test the armament on the OV-1 Mohawk, a twin turboprop surveillance airplane that also was used in the Persian Gulf War, said Len Burgers, a longtime colleague from Mounds View.
More than 20 years later, Langer bid on and eventually purchased the same aircraft at an Army surplus sale. The restored Mohawk now serves as the centerpiece of the American Wings museum Langer founded in 1985. A building to house the museum, which is funded and staffed entirely by volunteers, was dedicated last November.
''We used to say that the museum was Mike, and Mike was the museum, but he always told us it wasn't for him, but it was a museum for aviation,'' Burgers said. ''What he has left behind, what he has created, will be there for a long while.''
Langer was a devoted husband and father who frequently took his wife, Carol, and their three sons on vacations. He always rented an airplane and they flew together, Gregory Langer said. ''There was no need to wait in line at the airport,'' he said. ''In fact, I had never flown commercially until I was 26 years old.'' When his three sons were between 5 and 15 years of age, their father would take them to the airport every weekend, Gregory Langer said. ''He got free labor for 10 years, and we inherited his love for the museum and the airport.''
Langer is also survived by twin sons, Jeffrey of St. Paul and Steven of Apple Valley.
Visitation will be 4 to 8 p.m. today at Holcomb-Henry-Boom North Chapel in Shoreview. Services will be at noon Wednesday in St. Rose of Lima Church in Roseville. Burial will be in Roselawn Cemetery in Roseville.
Info and Obit provied bty Gene Gross Relative.
Michael Gregory Langer was born 7 Dec 1938 in Paducah, KY and died 26 Apr 1998 in St. Paul, Ramsey Co., MN.
MICHAEL LANGER, WHO FOUNDED MUSEUM OF AVIATION, DIES AT 59
When Michael Langer of Roseville first fell in love with airplanes, he was a young boy living in St. Paul's Como Park neighborhood.
Driven by his passion for wings and propellers, Langer would frequently hop on his bike and pedal the 15 miles to the Anoka County Airport in Blaine. Once there, he would wash and fuel aircraft and perform other chores in exchange for free flying lessons. He never told his parents about his love affair until he was ready to get his license.
He was only 14 and, for a time, the youngest pilot in the United States, said his eldest son, Gregory Langer of Roseville.
Langer, who eventually founded the American Wings Aviation Museum at the same airport where he learned to fly 45 years earlier, died Sunday of cancer. He was 59.
Langer graduated with an engineering degree from the University of Minnesota and became vice president and general manager of Dynetics Systems, an electronics company based in Elk River, but he was ''devoted, consumed, fanatical'' when it came to aviation, Gregory Langer said.
''It was his hobby, but it could have been a second occupation,'' his son said. ''In his adult years, he was a flight instructor and helped many, many people get their private and commercial licenses. Anyone interested in aviation would find a true brother in my dad.''
Besides the museum, Langer also helped organize the airport's ''Discover Aviation Days,'' an event that draws tens of thousands of visitors annually. He also co-founded the popular OV-1 Mohawk Association, a group of aviation enthusiasts that quickly grew from a dozen members in the early 1990s to more than 600 today.
During the early 1960s, Langer was a member of the U.S. Army Aviation Test Board. Part of his job involved periodic trips to Vietnam to test the armament on the OV-1 Mohawk, a twin turboprop surveillance airplane that also was used in the Persian Gulf War, said Len Burgers, a longtime colleague from Mounds View.
More than 20 years later, Langer bid on and eventually purchased the same aircraft at an Army surplus sale. The restored Mohawk now serves as the centerpiece of the American Wings museum Langer founded in 1985. A building to house the museum, which is funded and staffed entirely by volunteers, was dedicated last November.
''We used to say that the museum was Mike, and Mike was the museum, but he always told us it wasn't for him, but it was a museum for aviation,'' Burgers said. ''What he has left behind, what he has created, will be there for a long while.''
Langer was a devoted husband and father who frequently took his wife, Carol, and their three sons on vacations. He always rented an airplane and they flew together, Gregory Langer said. ''There was no need to wait in line at the airport,'' he said. ''In fact, I had never flown commercially until I was 26 years old.'' When his three sons were between 5 and 15 years of age, their father would take them to the airport every weekend, Gregory Langer said. ''He got free labor for 10 years, and we inherited his love for the museum and the airport.''
Langer is also survived by twin sons, Jeffrey of St. Paul and Steven of Apple Valley.
Visitation will be 4 to 8 p.m. today at Holcomb-Henry-Boom North Chapel in Shoreview. Services will be at noon Wednesday in St. Rose of Lima Church in Roseville. Burial will be in Roselawn Cemetery in Roseville.
Info and Obit provied bty Gene Gross Relative.
MICHAEL LANGER, WHO FOUNDED MUSEUM OF AVIATION, DIES AT 59
When Michael Langer of Roseville first fell in love with airplanes, he was a young boy living in St. Paul's Como Park neighborhood.
Driven by his passion for wings and propellers, Langer would frequently hop on his bike and pedal the 15 miles to the Anoka County Airport in Blaine. Once there, he would wash and fuel aircraft and perform other chores in exchange for free flying lessons. He never told his parents about his love affair until he was ready to get his license.
He was only 14 and, for a time, the youngest pilot in the United States, said his eldest son, Gregory Langer of Roseville.
Langer, who eventually founded the American Wings Aviation Museum at the same airport where he learned to fly 45 years earlier, died Sunday of cancer. He was 59.
Langer graduated with an engineering degree from the University of Minnesota and became vice president and general manager of Dynetics Systems, an electronics company based in Elk River, but he was ''devoted, consumed, fanatical'' when it came to aviation, Gregory Langer said.
''It was his hobby, but it could have been a second occupation,'' his son said. ''In his adult years, he was a flight instructor and helped many, many people get their private and commercial licenses. Anyone interested in aviation would find a true brother in my dad.''
Besides the museum, Langer also helped organize the airport's ''Discover Aviation Days,'' an event that draws tens of thousands of visitors annually. He also co-founded the popular OV-1 Mohawk Association, a group of aviation enthusiasts that quickly grew from a dozen members in the early 1990s to more than 600 today.
During the early 1960s, Langer was a member of the U.S. Army Aviation Test Board. Part of his job involved periodic trips to Vietnam to test the armament on the OV-1 Mohawk, a twin turboprop surveillance airplane that also was used in the Persian Gulf War, said Len Burgers, a longtime colleague from Mounds View.
More than 20 years later, Langer bid on and eventually purchased the same aircraft at an Army surplus sale. The restored Mohawk now serves as the centerpiece of the American Wings museum Langer founded in 1985. A building to house the museum, which is funded and staffed entirely by volunteers, was dedicated last November.
''We used to say that the museum was Mike, and Mike was the museum, but he always told us it wasn't for him, but it was a museum for aviation,'' Burgers said. ''What he has left behind, what he has created, will be there for a long while.''
Langer was a devoted husband and father who frequently took his wife, Carol, and their three sons on vacations. He always rented an airplane and they flew together, Gregory Langer said. ''There was no need to wait in line at the airport,'' he said. ''In fact, I had never flown commercially until I was 26 years old.'' When his three sons were between 5 and 15 years of age, their father would take them to the airport every weekend, Gregory Langer said. ''He got free labor for 10 years, and we inherited his love for the museum and the airport.''
Langer is also survived by twin sons, Jeffrey of St. Paul and Steven of Apple Valley.
Visitation will be 4 to 8 p.m. today at Holcomb-Henry-Boom North Chapel in Shoreview. Services will be at noon Wednesday in St. Rose of Lima Church in Roseville. Burial will be in Roselawn Cemetery in Roseville.
Info and Obit provied bty Gene Gross Relative.
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