Lang, Wallace H. - 1921-2011

DOLMAGE, HENDRICKSON, LANG, RODEMEYER, WALSH

Posted By: Polk volunteer
Date: 9/12/2024 at 14:14:09

Wallace H. Lang passed away Saturday, December 3 at Wesley Acres Health Center following a brief and courageous struggle with cancer. Services will be held on Wednesday, December 7 at 2 p.m. at Grace United Methodist Church located at 3700 Cottage Grove in Des Moines. A private interment will be held that morning for the immediate family members.
Wallace was born April 22, 1921, in Brooklyn, IA to Allen A. and Ellen (Hendrickson) Lang. Wallace was born into a family of distinguished agricultural leaders from the state of Iowa. He continued this family legacy through his own long and successful career. His involvement in agriculture began with 4-H activities in his youth and culminated with his term as the President of the Iowa Boys 4-H Club in 1939. His record of outstanding projects in 4-H earned him the Thomas E. Wilson scholarship to Iowa State College where he pursued a degree in animal husbandry and was a member of FarmHouse Fraternity.
His education at Iowa State was interrupted when his ROTC unit was called to duty on December 8, 1941. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps as a pilot and flight trainer and received a commission as a Second Lieutenant.
In 1947, he married F. Lucille Lang of Harcourt, IA. This loving marriage prospered for 64 years and was blessed with five children, Diane, Cathryn, Thomas, Sally and Nancy.
Wallace was in the forefront of research and breeding of purebred Hampshire swine on both a state and national level. He won many championship awards and was a swine judge throughout the Midwest He served as a member and director with numerous agricultural boards. In 1957 he was named "Iowa's Outstanding Young Farmer" and traveled to Durham, NC for the national awards ceremony.
In 1968, Wallace moved onto a new venture in the field of agribusiness when he joined Farmers' Hybrid in Hampton, IA. In 1975 Farmer's Hybrid was acquired by Monsanto, Int., and he and Lucille moved to West Des Moines in 1977. They became active members of Grace United Methodist Church and the Win Sum Sunday School Class. In recent years, Wallace enjoyed living in the Bolton Apartments of Wesley Acres and focusing on family, friends and his woodworking skills.
Those left to cherish his memory are his wife, Lucille; children, Diane (David) Dolmage of Victor, IA; Cathryn Lang (Michael Walsh) of Des Moines, IA; Tom (Tauhni) Lang of Valley Springs, SD; Sally Lang of Des Moines, IA; Nancy (Brad) Rodemeyer of Norwalk, IA; 16 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
The family would like to thank their special friends at Wesley Acres Health Center for their support and compassion during Wallace's illness. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be directed to Grace United Methodist Church or the Wesley Acres Good Samaritan Fund. Online memorials may be sent to  www.mcclarensresthavenchapel.com.
Published in Des Moines (IA) Register; Tuesday, December 6, 2011, page 4B