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From The Observer News
(www.observernews.net) Top Stories By Penny Fletcher
A man of humble beginnings, the professor has accumulated a litany of degrees, honors, accolades, and yes, thankful students in every age group. He has transferred, and is still transferring, vast knowledge and ideas that make you think and study until new skills are as ingrained as old algebraic formulas and correct grammatical usage. Professor Lange, known to most simply as Phil, has spent a lifetime enriching the lives of others. But Phil has other qualities as well. Interviewing several people who know Phil best I learned things about him I did not already know, although I have known him personally for more than 25 years. Some things, however, were mentioned by everyone I talked with. Among them were the following: Phil is kind. He has a sense of humor. He is able to laugh at himself. And he is loved by many. To begin the story about Phil Lange’s life, we must start in an old mining town in Illinois during the Great Depression, when broken-hearted, homeless and often starving parents were leaving their children with families they knew could care for them. Having had two sets of parents myself, I know much apparent sadness often happens for the long-range good. Like myself, Phil was fortunate to have been raised in a home with parents who not only fed and clothed him, but stressed ethical values and especially, the need for education.
“I was a sickly kid,” Phil told me several years ago over coffee in the Sun Towers dining room. “Everybody knew the Langes would take care of the children people left there. They knew I would get the care I needed.” Phil wasn’t alone. Other children were also raised by Richard and Martha Lange, who lived in North Freedom, Ill., population 591. They owned a general store, said Phil’s longtime friend John Bowker, a former newsman and broadcaster who now heads up the Sun City Center Historical Society.
John helped me piece together the next part of this story as a special surprise and honor for Phil. Without John, the following part of Phil’s history could not have been included in this story. Records in a box in the Historical Society files show that Phil married Irene Oyen on June 8, 1940 and that later they had a daughter, Dena Rae. The couple also had a son who predeceased them.
Phil got his PhD. in 1941 and taught first in Reeseville, WI. Later -- how much later we do not know exactly -- he became chairman of the English Department at Wayland Junior College in Beaver Dam, WI, and also taught high school. Records verifying this in the Historical Society’s files show he taught at the University of Wisconsin and later became the Dean of Men and an Advisor as well as Chairman of the Psychology Department at Arizona State College in Flagstaff. Some time in the next 10 years he worked as Professor of Education and Coordinator of Student Teaching (instructing teachers) at the prestigious Columbia University in New York City.
Among the letters of recommendation and copies of employment verifications in the box I found one very interesting piece of paper stating that in 1941 his salary was $50 a week. But Phil didn’t stop with educating students at schools, colleges and universities. He went on to become an “expert” consultant for the Department of State and worked for UNESCO from 1943 to 1945 as author and editor of its curriculum materials. He also served with the Naval Reserve. In 1966 he was the recipient of the Filmstrip Award for Graphic Arts, and following that, garnered too many awards to be listed here. They can, however, be viewed along with other Historical Society records at the Sun City Center Visitor’s Center. One accolade, however, must be mentioned: The Educational Press Association Award he received from the Press Association of America in 1969. The holder of both bachelor’s and master’s degrees, Phil never stopped learning. He once told me he learned something from just about every person he met. Once Phil said he and Irene spent two years in Chile with UNESCO from 1957 to 1959 and two more in Afghanistan with U.S. AID from 1970 to 1972. Phil and Irene began coming to Sun City Center in the early 1970s as snowbirds, but soon decided to live there year round. He still travels to see his daughter Dena Rae and her husband, Robert Kelly, in Oradell, NJ, but mostly stays in Sun City Center encouraging other seniors to use their brains. “You’ve got to keep your brain active,” Phil told me once. “It’s as important to keep learning as it is to exercise your body.” Some time in the 1980s Phil started the Issues and Ideas series at what was then called Lake Towers -- now Sun Towers -- as an offshoot of classes at Community Church College. Unlike the college classes, however, Issues was held year round every Monday afternoon. In 1989, John Bowker began recording the dates and topics of each program. The programs became so popular with so many people that Feb. 26, 2001 was proclaimed Phil Lange Day by the community through the efforts of John Bowker and the late Jerry Milton, who served as president of both the Sun City Center Community Association and the Sun City Center Chamber of Commerce (in different years).
The next big event recorded in Phil’s life was a total opposite from that happy day; on Jan. 16, 2006, Irene Lange died at the age of 93. Phil continued with Issues, and was again honored July 2, 2007 on the anniversary of his 96th -- and what was thought was to be his last -- program. Phil thought Manuel Escudero, musician and frequent guest at Issues, would be playing old favorites on the piano, but instead people attending a surprise party for Phil filled the Sun Towers dining room. The following season, Phil decided on a new format and replaced the long-running “Issues” with a new version, People, Places & Things, moderated by Robert “Bob” Mills of Kings Point. Much like Issues, the People programs also attracted many guests and participants as South County residents from all walks of life were asked to speak, got interviewed, and did question and answer formats. No matter how it was done, those who came went away with new knowledge often in subjects they had never encountered before. But Phil wasn’t always “the teacher.” Sometimes he was just a friend. “I met Phil in 1993 when I first moved here,” said Yvonne Ponsor, Dean of Community Church College. “I was interested in books, so I started doing book sales at the library with Irene (Lange). I also worked with him on the Library Committee and at the college. We got to be good friends. It wasn’t all about the college.” Two things Yvonne related to me in a recent interview were especially interesting. “Once when I fell at the Nearly New Shop and hit my head. I really smacked my face against the counter and blood was gushing. People were waiting for the emergency squad to come and asking me if there was anything they could do, and saying things like ‘are you all right?’ Well, of course I wasn’t all right! But Phil just stood there with his hand on my head, calmly telling me everything was going to be fine. He stayed right with me. That’s the kind of person he is.” Yvonne also told me about a day when she and (the late) Trisha Smith “kidnapped” Phil and took him to lunch. “We wanted to hear more about his life story and we knew that was the only way to get enough time with him,” Yvonne said, although she left out the details of why she referred to it as having “kidnapped” him. “Phil is the only person I know who is in Who’s Who International,” she added. But that isn’t what Yvonne thinks of first when she thinks about Phil. No, it’s her special “apple” collection she cherishes most. “Every year when the semester begins (at Community Church College) he brings me an apple for the teacher. He’s brought apples made of plastic, cloth, a clown holding an apple, real apples -- one that opens into a chalkboard. I have them all lined up on my desk. Things I can keep to remind me of the particular school year.” Another thing Yvonne recalled is that until very recently, Phil refused to slow down. “I’m not just referring to his teaching,” she said. “I mean he wouldn’t physically slow down. He was always on the go.” She asked me if I remembered the fall he had taken about three years ago that resulted in a broken hip. I did, but I didn’t know it was because he had jumped over a fence. “He had someplace to go, and as usual, he was in a hurry to get there. So he just jumped over one of those orange-net-type fences they had up (around construction work).” Then she said, “He didn’t want to stay in the hospital so he’d get up and push his empty wheelchair around. He wouldn’t stay in it. He was very determined.” When it came time for me to leave, I asked Yvonne if she had to sum Phil up in one sentence, how she would describe him. “Why- Phil is completely accepting of everybody, no matter who they are,” she said. “He is very gracious and he goes out of his way to compliment people and make them feel good.” I understood what she meant immediately. Better yet, I could see that even “The Dean” couldn’t sum up this professor in one concise sentence. © Copyright 2008 by The Observer News Publications and M&M Printing |
