Richard Lange passed away on September 27, 2021 in Wolf Point. Funeral services are pending at this time.
Condolences for the family may be left using the form below.
Service Schedule
Services are pending at this time or no services will be held. If available, please see obituary for more information.
Service Schedule
Services are pending at this time or no services will be held. If available, please see obituary for more information.
David E. & Chong Ae Boyd says
Richard we will miss you, you were always there when I had a problem. Prayers for the family
Tim Cody says
Thoughts and prayers, Sarah and Matt. Mat your father RIP!!
Vicki says
Sorry for your loss. Please call if you need anything. We live up the road. I was a
The business teacher when you were in high school.
Melissa Reum says
Thoughts & Prayers to the Family.
Deborah Hartwell says
My tribute to my brother:
I don’t have a lot of memories of my brother when I was very little. I have flashes of memory here and there, like the time I was riding with him, sitting on the back of his bike. It wasn’t his fault, because I knew I had to keep my legs in the air, but I thought I could put my legs down and rest them on the bike frame. My feet hit the spokes, we went down, and I remember being carried bleeding and screaming into the house. Rick was in trouble, and I felt really bad about it.
I remember him constructing his mirror relay one night under the door in the hallway, so he could watch TV when he was sent to his room. That story has become collective family history. Later, I vividly see him sitting on the bar in the downstairs family room, talking on the phone. I was all excited because he was on the radio! He called in to a talk show about how wrong it was for Star Trek to be canceled. Some things never change.
After we moved to Elk Grove, he became a much bigger fixture in my life. We were in adjacent rooms, and he played his music so loud that I couldn’t sleep. Daddy put up cork board on the wall to muffle the noise. 🤷
I have so very many memories of my brother… his slouchy teenage shuffle walk, which really only improved slightly with age. His sitting cross legged in the living room chair. I always wondered how he could sit that way. Sitting at the dinner table after everyone else was finished, with serving dishes in a half circle around him. The endless family discussions about which college was the best choice. I remember him getting his first job. I especially remember his bringing home his first girlfriend… we all whispered, trying to get a look at her. 🤣
My kite… I begged for a kite because of Mary Poppins, and Mom finally bought me one for my eighth birthday. I was happily flying it in the front yard on a windy warm September day. Lindy and Suzy were teaching me. Rick seldom interacted in my play, but that day he decided to show me how to fly a kite… he let that thing keep going until the spool ran out of string! It was so far away we could barely see it. Lindy and Suzy kept telling him it was too far away, but we all know how stubborn he could be. Finally he tried to pull it back in, and it went down. Of course, I started crying. I ran into the house, and of course Mom told him to “go get it.” He stood there, just blinking- a habit he kept his entire life. Then he turned around and shuffled away, walking and rolling up the string as he went along. Apparently he kept walking , going over fences and through yards, tracing the string and finally found the kite. It was a couple of miles away. The string was really dirty and the kite had a hole in it because he had to climb a tree to get it. I think he was supposed to replace it, but I don’t have any memories of flying kites after that.
Rick took me on my first horseback ride. I was in my “Black Beauty” phase, and he owned a horse! I begged him to teach me to ride. When my birthday came around, Mom told him it was the one thing I wanted. So he took me on a trail ride. Yup. That ended my horse phase. It was stinky, and the flies ate me up. I didn’t quite understand that commercial trail rides were a bit different than owning a horse. Later on I figured he planned my first horse experience, because after that I left him alone about his horse. 🤣
I hit my teenage years, all confidence and enormous insecurity, and I was a very lonely kid. Mother and Daddy almost ignored me, and I was the oddball at school. I took driver’s ed, but I was one of three kids in the car, and the other two boys received way more attention than I did. I had zero experience, and no one would take me to practice. Obviously, Mom didn’t drive, and Daddy was always gone. So Rick took me on my first practice drive. Unfortunately, I scared him to death. I had no idea what to do…. He kept telling me to stop looking at the hood of the car, to scan the road, check my mirrors. It was so confusing. Ironically, the only accident I have ever been in was when Rick was behind the wheel. My head broke his windshield, and my knee went through his dashboard. We were riding in his brand new green pickup truck. He got in sooo much trouble with Mom because he didn’t take me to the ER. Again, I told him I was fine, so I said it wasn’t his fault. 🤷
Then came the time when he started to study the Bible. I know he was putting in so much effort to change, but it was my senior year of high school! 🤷 I argued just for the sake of arguing. What Rick didn’t know was it sank in. I wasn’t about to tell him I was listening, but I was.
I came home for a vacation my first year of college. It was spring break, and my best friend on campus came with me. Rick invited both of us to the Memorial. We thought we were going to a party with wine and crackers. He swore for years that he never told me that, but that was what both of us heard. 🤣
All of these little things made a difference. I really liked the person Rick had become. I liked his wife. I had to admit the changes happened when he became a witness. So when my life fell apart and I had nowhere to turn, I turned to Jehovah in prayer. He answered me. I started studying. Now, over 40 years later, with all the decisions in my life, being in the truth is by far the best thing I have ever done. 40 years of faithfully serving Jehovah is my proudest accomplishment. It happened because my brother took the time to argue with his little sister.
Bobby and I were living in Texas, and I sent Rick a letter telling him to send the Witnesses to me, because I was ready to study. I’m sure he fell over in from shock! Later, we even packed up, left Texas, and moved to Montana to be near him and Barbara. I had the privilege of having my brother as my best friend. Living near him in Wolf Point for three years, getting to know his wife, and watching our children play together. I have so many stories and memories from that time in my life. Rick was there when I was baptized. He and Barbara held my Aubrey when she was born. I held Sarah and Benjamin. We were family.
If I was going to pick a decade that I cherish the most with my brother, it would be after we moved to Connecticut. He would always call in the middle of the night, because the rates dropped after 11:00. 11:00pm his time was 1:00 am for us. I guess it was divine payback for when I lived in Texas and I would randomly call my sister Suzy at 5:30 in the morning her time, because the rates went up at 8 AM. 🤣 Anyway, I would sit in my nightgown on the cold kitchen floor, (no cordless phone back then) with the phone cradled to my ear, trying to talk quietly so I didn’t wake anybody up. Half the time Bobby would storm downstairs about 3 AM, mad as a hatter because I wasn’t in bed. He would tell me to, “get off the phone and tell your brother to call at a decent hour.” I always told Rick it was OK, it didn’t bother me.
We talked about everything. We discussed our children, our finances, computers, TV shows, divorce, and our family. We talked about the future. We relived and rehashed the past. I listened to his point of view and supported him in every decision that he made. Finally, I had the privilege of having two of his children come live with me for a time, and serve shoulder to shoulder with them in my congregation.
The love I feel for my brother tears me apart with his loss. I think of my brother and I remember all of those years coming out of a dead sleep and hearing, “Hello. Did I wake you up?” For years I found comfort in his love and support when things were difficult in my life. When I approach Jehovah in prayer, he knows the deep love I have for my family, and the sorrow I feel with the loss of my brother. My heart aches for his children. My only wish is that I could comfort them in their sorrow. Yes, we know we will see him in the resurrection, but that doesn’t stop the grieving and the loss while we are waiting here in this system of things.
I think I will let my brother’s own words end my thoughts:
“I started cleaning out the room that Matthew used to be in. It has been collecting junk and still is full of all the stuff Matthew left behind when he moved out. Believe it or not that was 10 years ago that he left. The clothes he left behind is still hanging in the closet. So I have this major project going on. Burn pile (Polyester suits and pants sure put out a lot of heat when burned in the wood stove), give away pile, keepsake pile. I gave away the suits Benjamin wore when he gave his first talk when he was in 2nd grade. Lots of memories, and thats the problem, the problem with kids that is. My memories of them and events is much clearer than their memories of the same things. Kids just don’t see things in the same light as adults do.They don’t have an understanding of all the things that go into just daily living much less times of crises. Sarah can’t understand why I am keeping the old art work they did in school from long ago, but I remember when they first brought it home and were proud of what they accomplished.. So houses fill up with memories even though the kids move on. That is what we are all faced with…. Well I have been at this all day now and am rambling. I should send it out before I change my mind You will probably disagree with me but that is what makes it interesting, there doesn’t appear to be any real answer, its elements of all of a combined 170 years of peoples experience allowed to ferment. And who knows what the result is or the best way to handle it. Only time will tell.”
Thank you for allowing me to share.
Debby Hartwell