George Thomas Lang

George Thomas (Tom) Lang died on September 3, 2022, after a long battle with Lewey Body Dementia. Born to George Augustus Lang and Mary “Pearlie” Enecks Lang in Savannah, GA on February 1, 1943, Tom grew up a military brat. His father’s Air Force service moved the family around the country and world.

Throughout his childhood, Tom lived in places such as Georgia, Alabama, Texas, Virginia, Florida, California and Japan. While his family was stationed in Alaska in the early 1950s, he lived with his aunt and uncle, Elizabeth and Corley Rahn of Springfield, GA, where he attended Springfield Elementary School for 3rd and 4th grades. During these years, he developed a love of country living and a life-long hatred of grits.

Tom attended much of middle school and most of high school in San Rafael, CA. In 1961, he graduated from Johnson High School near Tokyo, Japan. After graduation, he attended San Francisco State University for two years before joining the Army in 1963.

During his military service, he attended journalism school and was stationed in Paris, France, where he wrote for The Periscope, the army newspaper until his service ended in 1966. He treasured his years in Paris.

After the Army, Tom returned to San Francisco State where he completed his history degree. He was in San Francisco during the days of Haight-Ashbury and flower power. Tom moved to Savannah after graduation and wrote for The Savannah Morning News for several years in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

In 1971, he found his true calling when he began his career as a history teacher at Central Junior High School in Springfield. He retired from Effingham County Middle School in 2000 after nearly three decades teaching Georgia History.

Tom loved horses and baseball. He instilled the love of both in his sons, spending countless hours in the saddle and at the batting cages with his boys. His family finds great solace that he lived to see his beloved Atlanta Braves win the 2021 World Series. Tom was also an avid reader. He loved The New Yorker, Ernest Hemingway and John Dos Passos, among others. But above all, Tom loved his family.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Lt. Col George A. Lang and Mary E. Lang, his sister Karen Lang Hinely and his brother Earl Eugene Lang. He is survived by his loving wife of 42 years, Mechelle; his two sons and daughters-in-law, Max (Amanda) and Robert (Natalie); and his two precious grandchildren, Maddy Claire and Clay. He is also survived by his sister, Rita Lang Hirsh (Marvin); his sister-in-law, Karla Calhoun Lang; his brother-in-law, James Hinely; five nephews and several cousins.

Tom’s battle with Lewey Body Dementia was a long, frustrating and difficult fight. The family would like to thank the staffs at the Benton House of Covington, GA, and the Retreat at Conyers, GA, for the loving care they gave him. The family would also like to thank the nurses and staff of Southern Grace Hospice for their care and comfort during this difficult time. And we can never thank enough his special caregiver, Collette Reynolds, who never missed an afternoon with him and took such good care of him.

At the request of Tom, he will be cremated and there will be no service. The family will scatter his ashes at a later time.

To all his former students—he loved all of you and teaching you history was one of his greatest passions. He always enjoyed running into you.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you make donations to Southern Grace Hospice and The Nashville Food Project.

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