Mary Jane Powell Langhorn, formerly of Riverhead, died May 4, 2019 at Memorial Regional Hospital in Mechanicsville, Virginia. She was 94 years old.
Born in Cumberland, Virginia on May 21, 1924, she was the youngest of 10 children born to Reuben and Laura Hatcher Powell.
She graduated from Cumberland School and went on to receive a nursing certificate on May 11, 1945 and was employed at St. Phllips Hospital in Richmond, Virginia. On April 14, 1946, she married Garfield M. Langhorn. They raised a family of four children.
She was baptized at an early age at Tear Wallet Baptist church in Cumberland, Virginia and after her marriage, joined her husband’s church, the Rocky Mount Baptist Church in Cumberland. In 1958, after relocating to Riverhead, she joined First Baptist church under the pastorate of the Rev. John Joseph. She joined the senior choir and eventually became the 17th president of the choir. She was employed as a seamstress and became shop steward. She was a Past Matron of Tyre Chapter No 62, Order of the Eastern Star in Riverhead and also was a member of Club 96, a social and benefit organization.
She became a member of American Gold Star Mothers after the death of her son, PFC Garfield M. Langhorn Jr. in Vietnam in January 1969. He received the Medal of Honor for his heroic action on the battlefield, sacrificing his life to save other soldiers. She organized an essay contest for Riverhead schoolchildren dedicated to the themes of her son’s service and self-sacrifice and she attended the awards ceremony at Pulaski Street School every year.
She moved to Virginia in 2013 to be closer to her daughters. She attended Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, Mt. Gilead Full Gospel International Ministries in Chesterfield and Little Zion and Mt. Pero churches in Powhatan, Virginia. She became a member of Mt. Pero under the Rev. Patrick W. Bland and was designated Mother of the church on April 7, 2019.
Predeceased by her husband in 2008 and her son in 1969, she is survived by her daughters: Yvonne Reid, of Mechanicsville, Virginia, Anna Mack (Ronald), of Powhatan, Virginia, and April Armstead, of Chesterfield, Virginia. She is also survived by eight grandchildren: Harry Brown Jr. (Patricia), Venetia Lewis, Tonya Griffin (Edgar), Maricia Harris (Darrell), Andre Lewis, Monica Moore (Dwayne), Allan J. Reid Jr. (Tanika) and Joseph Garfield Reid; and by 18 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild; by a sister-in-law, Annie Harris, and three brothers-in law, Bernard (Eloise), Sherman (Rose) and Tom (Betty) Langhorn, as well as a host of nieces and nephews on both the Powell and Langhorn sides of her family.
A funeral service will be held on Tuesday, May 14 from 12 to 2 p.m. at Tuthill-Mangano Funeral Home, 406 East Main Street, Riverhead. Interment will follow at Riverhead Cemetery.
