Lee R. Langford

Lee Roy Langford passed away Thursday April 12, 2018^, under the loving watch of the Central MT Medical Center. He was preceded in death by his mother (when he was nine years old) and his father in 1974. He is survived by his brother James Langford, wife Catherine, as well as eight children, 20 grandchildren, 32 great-grandchildren, and three great-great grandchildren.

Lee was born July 6, 1930 in Lewistown to Edward Langford and Mildred Sebek. He lived the bulk of his young life in Lewistown with grandparents Emil and Anna Sebek on their ranch where he went to Folda School up Maiden Canyon, then graduated from Fergus County High School. Lee joined the Army serving two years during the Korean War; first in El Paso, Texas and then in Fairbanks, Alaska where he was a communications specialist. One day he was put on K.P. and his commanding officer did not receive an important message in a timely manner. The C.O. ordered the Sergeant to "never put that man on KP again!" which irked the Sergeant and delighted Lee.

After his time in the service Lee learned the dry-cleaning business from his wife's uncle and ran a shop in Poplar, MT. He then struck out on his own and built a garment empire that included the iconic Paris Cleaners in Lewistown, three laundromats and a commercial laundry. He served individuals and businesses all over central MT, employed hundreds of people from 1956 to 2007 spending over 50 years in the cleaning business.

He was blessed with many children. He and his first wife Jacqueline Green had Robert (Carleen) Langford, Jackilee (Bud) Leap, Mildred (Mike) Olson, Natalie (Bill) Parker, Leroy (Elizabeth) Langford and Lyda (Jerry) Hooks. Lee and his second wife Dorothy Muckey added Edward (Khriss) Langford, and his third wife Catherine rounded out the family with daughter Tina Hendrickson. Robert and Lyda live in Lewistown, Jackilee, Leroy, Edward and Tina live in Billings, Natalie lives in Lame Deer, and Millie lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Lee loved spending time in the outdoors with his family-traveling, camping, boating, fishing, sharing strong opinions, and hunting (especially up Lost Fork Trail in the Belts). He and Cathy were members of the Moose Club, were avid motorcycle riders and Lee was a snowbird where he spent ten happy winters four-wheeling in Yuma, AZ.   Lee was the epitome of the philosophy "work hard, play hard" and will be greatly missed.

Visitation will be from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Thursday April 19^th at Cloyd Funeral Home. Services are 11:00 a.m., Friday April 20, 2018 at the funeral home. After the graveside ceremony, everyone is invited to a lunch reception at the Central Montana Community Center.