Born Oct. 23, 1938
Richlandtown, Pennsylvania
Died Sept. 23, 2024
Burlington, Vermont
Details of service
A Celebration of Nancy’s life will be held Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024 from 12 to 3 p.m. at the Garden Barn at Lang Farm, 51 Upper Main Street, Essex, Vermont.
There will be a short service followed by a reception. Should you wish to make a contribution in Nancy’s honor, please consider Doctors Without Borders or Chef Andres’ World Central Kitchen. Nancy believed in and supported their missions.
Nancy Ellen Lang, 85, of Essex, Vermont passed away peacefully on Monday, September 23, 2024, one month shy of her 86th birthday, at the University of Vermont Medical Center. Nancy passed as summer turned into fall, and just like that a little sunshine left our lives. She was born in Richlandtown, Pennsylvania to John Repa Jr. and Myrtle May Hagan. When she was 14, her father uprooted the family from Bucks County to the wilds of Underhill, Vermont to be near his favorite hunting grounds. They settled in an old farmhouse on what is now Repa Road. Nancy and her sister, Phyllis, commuted by car to high school in Essex Junction where the new girl quickly caught the eye of an upperclassman. John Lang took Nancy on a first date on her 15th birthday, the beginning of a 70 year love affair.
Nancy was a force of nature from a young age. She skipped a grade and graduated at the age of 16 from Essex Junction High School at the top of her class. She was accepted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but they did not provide housing for female students at the time. She instead studied Civil Engineering for two years at the University of Vermont, until she left school to marry John on September 21, 1957. After their wedding, they lived on Long Island, NY where John was stationed in the US Air Force. They returned to take over the family farm in Essex, Vermont and welcomed their son, Jonathan, in 1959. A daughter, Jennifer, joined the family in 1964.
In between having her children, Nancy began her career in real estate at Hickok and Boardman. Sales were a perfect fit for Nancy as she possessed a natural charisma, always greeting everyone by name with a smile. A true trailblazer, Nancy opened her own real estate office at 30, during a time when women weren’t even allowed to open credit cards in their own name. Lang Associates became a leader in real estate sales and the largest real estate brokerage firm in Vermont. She had the ability to cultivate people’s strengths and reward them for their efforts. There was a reason she titled the business, Lang Associates, as the “Lang Gang” was a team. She took on leadership roles in the industry on both the state and national level. She was President of the Northwestern Vermont Board of Realtors, Vermont Association of Realtors and New England Chapter of Certified Residential Brokers and was National President of the Real Estate Brokerage Council. Nancy was named Realtor of the Year by the Northwestern Board of Realtors in 1971.
She served as President of the Greater Burlington Industrial Authority and and as a Director of the Vermont Industrial Development Authority, Vermont Business Roundtable, Vermont Canada Trade Office, Leadership Champlain, Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce and Vermont Chamber of Commerce. Nancy also served as a member of the Community Advisory Board for the Chittenden Trust Company and as a Director for the Bank of Vermont. For her efforts in the Vermont business world, the Small Business Administration named her Vermont Small Business Person of the Year in 1981. She was recognized at a White House reception hosted by Vice President George H.W. Bush. In 1985, the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce awarded her the Thomas B. Chittenden Award (Citizenship Award). The Burlington Free Press also named her a Top Gun in Business alongside several men in 1987.
In addition to her support of Vermont business, Nancy gave back to the community. She served as Chairman of a record setting Chittenden County United Way Campaign. She also devoted her time to many area educational institutions, serving as a Trustee of Trinity College and as a member of the UVM School of Business Advisory Board and the St. Michael’s College Associates Board. She was a founding member of the Vermont Women’s Forum and a member of the International Women’s Forum.
Nancy made doing it all look easy. She was a loving mother who encouraged all her children’s interests. She carried that tradition on to her grandchildren, supporting their education and careers and treating them to trips around the world. But Nancy’s success would not have been possible without the support of her husband, John. They were a true unit built on love and respect. After Nancy sold her real estate business, they developed the Lang Farm development and then retired. They were blessed to share a wonderful retirement where they traveled the world and enjoyed waterfront homes in Florida and Vermont. In her later years, Nancy particularly cherished Sunday family dinners and games of canasta and Rummikub. Bumps in the road like fire, natural disasters and life threatening illnesses were met with Nancy’s trademark resilience. When John passed in March of this year she seemed to weather that loss as well. But though science would tell us she died of a series of strokes, we all know it was caused by pieces of her broken heart from losing her “Hen.”
Nancy is survived by her children; Jonathan Lang and Jennifer and Daniel Bashaw, and her grandchildren; Sydney and her partner, Kevin O’Brien, Sophie Bashaw, Justin Lang and his fiancee, Jewellery Hoang and Chloe Lang. She also leaves her sister, Phyllis Maroney, her in-laws on John’s side and many nieces and nephews.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Nancy Lang.