Dr Ambrose Langa

Dr. Ambrose Michael Langa, 95, retired surgeon, died Tuesday, April 7, 2015 at his residence on Cayce Lane. A funeral mass will be held Friday at 3:00 P.M. at St. Catherine Catholic Church with Father Davis Chackaleckel officiating. Burial will follow in Polk Memorial Gardens with military honors provided by Herbert Griffin American Legion Post 19. The family will visit with friends Thursday from 4:00 - 8:00 P.M. at Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home. Condolences may be extended online at www.oakesandnichols.com. Born December 5, 1919 in North Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, he was the son of the late Simon Langa and Anna Janosko Langa. As a child, he returned with his parents, brother, and sister to the present Slovak Republic where he lived and completed his schooling with graduation from the Medical School of the Slovak University in Bratislava, Slovakia on June 21, 1947. Dr. Langa returned to the United States, his native land, on October 6, 1947 to join the family of his Uncle Gasper and Aunt Mary Langa and their children in Euclid, Ohio. As a physician he worked at Saint Alexis Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, the Wabash Railroad Hospital in Moberly, Missouri, received surgical training at Saint Mary's Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri and three years surgical training at the Vanderbilt University Hospital in Nashville. This was followed by service in the Medical Corps of the U. S. Army with the rank of Major. He practiced surgery in Columbia from July 1, 1957 until his retirement on January 1, 1990. Often quoted to him by his mother, "A patient can offer you no higher tribute than to entrust you with his life and his health, and by implication with the happiness of all his family." Dr. Langa was certified by the American Board of Surgery; he was a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, Fellow of the Southeastern Surgical Congress, and a Fellow of the Pan-Pacific Surgical Association. He was also a member of American Medical Association, Southern Medical Association, Tennessee Medical Association, and Maury County Medical Association. He was a communicant of St. Catherine Catholic Church for more than fifty years. Survivors include two daughters, Carol (Bill) Welch of Columbia and Erin (Bill) White of Culleoka; son, Paul Steven Davis of Nashville; grandchildren, Patricia (Keith) Lawrence, Paul Michael (Autumn) Welch, Samantha White, Tammie (Mark) Qualls, Matthew Davis, Jessica White and fiancé Jeremie Blattler, Caitlin Davis and fiancé Josh Moreno, and Staci White; eleven great grandchildren; several nieces and nephews in the United States and Slovakia; several cousins in Ohio and Pennsylvania; and special caregiver, Martha Campbell. He was preceded in death by his first wife Pattie Ruth Langa and later married Patricia Elaine Carey Langa who also preceded him in death on May 23, 2007. He was also preceded in death by a brother, Dr. Stephen Peter Langa; sisters, Valeria Tvrdonova and Olga Janosko; and daughter-in-law, Ann Lusk Davis. Active pallbearers will be Leslie Burns, Dan Rutherford, Bob Stewart, Pat Coleman, Mac Olivier, and Jimmy Massey. Honorary pallbearers will include the surgical co-workers of Dr. and Mrs. Langa, friends at Maury Regional Medical Center, former patients, and the staff of Hospice Compassus.