Walter H. Langehennig

Walter Henry Langehennig, 97, of Bandera, passed away on July 11, 2017 at Bandera Rehab Center. He was born in Fredericksburg, Tx on August 24, 1919 to Alonzo and Alma Hohmann Langehennig. He attended Cherry Mountain School outside of Fredericksburg, Tx. On May 26, 1940, he married Estella Ellebracht in Doss, Tx. He and Estella had 2 children in Fredericksburg and then moved to Falfurrias where the youngest child was born. Farming became very difficult because of the drought in the 50's. So he moved his family back to Fredericksburg and started a dairy. He later moved the family to Hunt, Tx., where he worked for Luther Graham at Camp La Junta. Mr. Graham knew Walter really wanted to work on a ranch, so he found 2 jobs for him, one in Montana and the other in Bandera on the John Merrick ranch. He didn't want to leave Texas, so he chose Bandera. In 1958, he was hired as the foreman of the Bar O ranch with more than 5,000 acres and stayed there for over 19 years until it was given to the state and is now Hill Country State Natural Area. He loved rodeo so much that he built the arena located next to the Lodge, which is where he and his family lived all those years. Building the arena ensured his being able to practice calf and steer roping and to have rodeos there with friends such as Scooter Fries, Ray Wharton and Buddy Groff. Walter, Buck Teich, Scooter Fries and others began the Rodeo Association in the early 1960's. They made many improvements to the arena at Mansfield Park, trying to draw more people to the area. He planted trees around the arena to ensure shade for horses, wives and children. He began the 40 & over and 50 & over team roping in the late 1960's, at Mansfield Park. It started with only a handful of contestants but grew bigger each year. One roping was so big, it had 599 teams. He entered himself and a partner to make it an even 600, then another team entered again to make it 601 teams. That event went until 2:00 in the morning. The roping continued until his wife passed away. She had been his "right hand man" all those years, and didn't feel he could go on without her. She passed away on May 12, 1990. He was preceded in death by his wife, Estella; his daughter & son-in-law Donna & Dick Baker; his parents; sister, Ola Schmidt; brother, Robert Langehennig; great-granddaughter, Valerie Estes. He is survived by his son, Homer Langehennig and wife Kim; daughter, Melonie Clark and husband Bob, all of Bandera. Grandchildren: Sean & Stacie Clark, Bandera; Lee Langehennig; Jennifer Timms; Amie Melton and husband Devon; Brad Baker and wife Chelsea. Great-grandchildren: Levi and Savannah Timms and Claire and Hayden Melton, all of Colorado; his sister-in-law, Helen Pehl Langehennig of Fredericksburg. We will miss playing dominoes with him, driving with him to check on his cattle and hearing all the great stories of growing up that he told us. A memorial service will be held at 1 pm, Saturday, August 5, 2017, in Bandera at Mansfield Park in the Rec Center. To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of Walter H. Langehennig please visit our Sympathy Store.

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