- Date Of Birth: November 5, 1935
- Date Of Death: September 27, 2018
- State: Arizona
John Keith Langston, a 45-year resident of Snowflake, passed away with his family by his side on Thursday, 27 September, 2018, in Cedar City, Utah.
Keith was born on the 5th of November, 1935, in Alamosa, Colorado, to John Merlin Langston and Uldene Louise Coombs Langston. He lived in the San Louis Valley until he was seven, when they moved to Flagstaff, Arizona where he graduated from High School in 1954.
Keith worked at the Safeway in Flagstaff before moving to Provo, Utah to attend college at Brigham Young University for two-and-a-half years in the civil engineering program. Unable to continue at school for financial and family reasons, he moved back to Flagstaff where he met Janet Grace Thompson, whom he married on the 11th of May of 1962 in the Mesa, Arizona LDS Temple. Janet had a son Daniel Alan Norris, who quickly became Dad’s son, Daniel Alan Langston. In the middle of returning from school and getting married Keith found out that his draft papers were at the post office, so he went down to the Army recruiter and enlisted to avoid getting drafted into the Navy, as he didn’t swim. After moving to Ft Benning Georgia with his new family, he was attached to a combat engineering unit and, ironically, became a power boat operator in a mobile floating assault bridge unit. While in the Army they were stationed at Ft Benning, Georgia, Ft Leonard Wood, Missouri, and Ft Knox, Kentucky and Ft Belvoir, Virginia.
After his time in the Army, Keith and Janet moved to St. George, Utah, where he began working as a surveyor for the State of Arizona on the Arizona Strip highway in the Virgin River Gorge between Utah and Nevada. After the surveying job was complete, he stayed on with Peter Kiewit Construction as a carpenter until the bridges were nearly complete on the project and moved to Arizona to continue highway construction. To provide more stability for his growing family they moved to Snowflake Arizona and he began working for Bechtel Corporation on the Cholla Power plant in Joseph City, Arizona, and continued work as a carpenter, home builder, construction and maintenance worker, and general contractor while the family grew up in Snowflake.
Keith was a kind and loving father, grandfather, and great-grandfather to his eight children, 29 grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren. He devoted his life to making sure they always had what they needed, knew they were loved, and making others happy. He is remembered by all who knew him for his kind manner, the twinkle in his eye, and his infectious smile.
Keith was a lifelong member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He served faithfully as a Home Teacher and in many other callings.
Keith is survived by his children, Daniel Langston, of Hotchkiss, CO., Mavra Parastino (Ray) of Washington, Ut, Daidri Macdonald (Jon) of Phoenix, AZ, Roene Bjerga (Lasse) of Cedar City, UT, Cullaine Boone (Mike) of Cedar City, UT, Kalon Langston (Bonni) of Cedar City, UT, Aleta Zufelt (Allen) of Flagstaff, AZ, Lael Langston, of Paonia, CO, and his sisters, Betha Holyoak, of Payson, UT, Sharon Shawcroft of Orem, UT, Sally Scott of Snowflake, AZ, and Laura Rogers of Hotchkiss, CO.
Keith was preceded in death by his wife, Janet Grace Thompson Langston, granddaughter Alyssa Parastino, his parents Merlin and Louise Langston, his younger sister Janet Goodman, and two younger brothers Jim Langston and Jess Langston.
