Obituary of Patricia A. Langley

February 13, 1938 – July 13, 2013 Patricia A. Langley of Arlington, VA died Saturday, July 13, after an extended battle with leukemia. She was 75. Born Patricia Ann Piccola, she grew up in Butler, Pennsylvania. She was an accomplished student with talent for playing piano, for which she was offered a scholarship to study. Instead, she opted for political science and enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh, graduating with a degree in American Government in 1961. While there, she was active in student government and was president of the women’s dormitories at one point. After graduation, she moved from Pennsylvania to Washington DC, where she worked on the legislative staffs of Congressmen William S. Moorhead (D-PA), George W. Grider (D-TN), and Dominic Daniels (D-NJ) from 1962 to 1971. She also served on the staff of the Democratic Study Group. She began study for a Master’s in American Government in 1962, and completed her Master’s coursework at Georgetown University in 1970. It was also in Washington that she met historian Dr. Harold D. Langley, who she married on June 12, 1965. The couple settled in Arlington and have two (now grown) children: Erika (46), a photojournalist and musician living in Seattle; and David (44), a video artist and musician living in Alexandria. In 1975, she joined Family Service America (FSA), a national organization based initially in New York, and later in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she established and managed their Office on Governmental Affairs. She served as Washington Representative from 1975 to 1980, Director of the Office on Governmental Affairs from 1980 to 1989, and Vice President for Government Relations from 1990 to 1992. In 1992 she left FSA and started her own public issues consulting business, which specialized in issues pertaining to managed care and human services. She was a visiting lecturer at George Mason University in the Fall of 1994, where she designed the format and materials for a course called, “The Human Service Delivery System in an Era of Change.” In 1997 she retired from full-time consulting, but remained active in community affairs and continued to explore her love of history, art and humanities, both locally and traveling overseas. She also volunteered as a docent at the Hillwood Museum in Washington. In 2011, she was diagnosed with leukemia and underwent treatment, first at Virginia Hospital Center and later at Johns Hopkins University Hospital. Despite a very demanding treatment schedule, she continued to manage the family’s affairs, welcome visitors and friends, and maintain correspondence. Only a few hours before she died, she traveled from Baltimore to Arlington, supervised a series of landscaping projects at her home, and went out to dinner with her family. She is survived by her husband, Harold D. Langley; her daughter Erika Langley and her son David Langley; her sister, Teresa D. Wood, of Pittsburgh, PA, and sister-in-law Wanda Piccola, of Cabot, PA; Three aunts and an uncle; Eight nieces and nephews, and an extensive network of cousins and friends. The family will be receiving family and friends at Advent Funeral & Cremation Services in Falls Church, VA on Friday, July 26th from 6:00pm-8:30pm. A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at St. Agnes Catholic Church 1910 N. Randolph St, Arlington, VA 22207 on Saturday, July 27th at 10:00am. Interment private.