John Keith Langston, a 45-year resident of Snowflake, passed away with his family by his side on Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018, in Cedar City, Utah. A viewing will be held on Oct. 6 at 11 a.m. at the Main Street Chapel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Snowflake. The funeral will follow immediately thereafter at 11:30 a.m. Keith was born on Nov. 5, 1935, in Alamosa, Colo., to John Merlin Langston and Uldene Louise Coombs Langston. He lived in the San Louis Valley until he was seven, when they moved to Flagstaff where he graduated from High School in 1954. Keith worked at the Safeway in Flagstaff before moving to Provo, Utah, to attend college at Brigham Young University for two-and-a-half years in the civil engineering program. Unable to continue at school for financial and family reasons, he moved back to Flagstaff where he met Janet Grace Thompson, whom he married on May 11, 1962, in the Mesa LDS Temple. Janet had a son Daniel Alan Norris, who quickly became Dad’s son, Daniel Alan Langston. In the middle of returning from school and getting married Keith found out that his draft papers were at the post office, so he went down to the Army recruiter and enlisted to avoid getting drafted into the Navy, as he didn’t swim. After moving to Fort Benning in Georgia with his new family, he was attached to a combat engineering unit and, ironically, became a power boat operator in a mobile floating assault bridge unit. While in the Army they were stationed at Fort Benning, Ga,, Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., Fort Knox, Ken., and Fort Belvoir, Va. After his time in the Army, Keith and Janet moved to St. George, Utah, where he began working as a surveyor for the State of Arizona on the Arizona Strip highway in the Virgin River Gorge between Utah and Nevada. After the surveying job was complete, he stayed on with Peter Kiewit Construction as a carpenter until the bridges were nearly complete on the project and moved to Arizona to continue highway construction. To provide more stability for his growing family they moved to Snowflake and he began working for Bechtel Corporation on the Cholla Power plant in Joseph City and continued work as a carpenter, homebuilder, construction and maintenance worker, and general contractor while the family grew up in Snowflake. Keith was a kind and loving father, grandfather, and great-grandfather to his eight children, 29 grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren. He devoted his life to making sure they always had what they needed, knew they were loved, and making others happy. He is remembered by all who knew him for his kind manner, the twinkle in his eye, and his infectious smile. Keith was a lifelong member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He served faithfully as a Home Teacher and in many other callings. Keith is survived by his children, Daniel Langston, of Hotchkiss, Colo., Mavra (Ray) Parastino of Washington, Utah, Daidri (Jon) Macdonald of Phoenix, Roene (Lasse) Bjerga of Cedar City, Utah, Cullaine (Mike) Boone of Cedar City, Utah, Kalon (Bonni) Langston of Cedar City, Utah, Aleta Zufelt (Allen) of Flagstaff, Lael Langston, of Paonia, Colo.; and his sisters, Betha Holyoak, of Payson, Utah, Sharon Shawcroft of Orem, Utah, Sally Scott of Snowflake and Laura Rogers of Hotchkiss, Colo. Keith was preceded in death by his wife, Janet Grace Thompson Langston; granddaughter, Alyssa Parastino; his parents, Merlin and Louise Langston; younger sister, Janet Goodman; and two younger brothers Jim Langston and Jess Langston. Norvel Owens Mortuary, in Flagstaff handled the arrangements.
