Langan Funeral
Neil Langan and Tony White
Sydney, NSW, Australia
Reverend Father David Hume, Sister Marie Therese, Clare and Neil, Brothers, Sisters and friends.
This week we have come here to pray for and lay to rest two wonderful brothers with very contrasting characters. They were both consummate educators and both had tremendous love for schools and respect for their pupils, confreres, colleagues and friends. Mac was an intensely private man, whilst Paul enjoyed the limelight more. Although Mac was 83 and Paul only 67, both have left an enormous legacy behind them and I’m sure would have been happy thinking back over their lives as we feel privileged to have been part of their lives.
Br William Macartan Langan entered the juniorate on the 23rd of January, 1943 after having been educated at Nudgee College. Jim Grovenor recalls that Mac was a real intellectual – he was just so brainy. He was a great help to everyone who needed any coaching in any subject. I found exactly the same thing when I was struggling to take on the second of the two unit Maths classes in Year 11 in 1987. Mac had the other class. Without his help, I would not have made it through that year.
I contacted a number of Mac’s past pupils and asked them to send me just a few sentences. I would like to cite the response of one in particular, who used visit Mac at Charingfield. It reads:
I was saddened to hear of the passing of one of the greatest educators Goulburn ever had. To those in the lower school starting at St Patrick's College Goulburn in the early 1980's, Br Langan seemed an august figure, a white haired Brother who seemed always to be in the background and who was the Year Eleven dormitory master, whose boys always had the shiniest of shoes which he made them polish on the front verandah every Saturday morning after study. The boys in Years Eleven and Twelve would always treat him with something akin to reverence, and younger students from an early age would realise that he must be quite important. I can remember being amazed on the first of the many occasions that I witnessed him playing hand-ball with members of his dormitory, as we assumed that he would have been some way past the age for such physical activity.
Br was, of course, in charge of the laundry. As we left the dining hall for study of an evening, we would see him placing over the back of the benches in the hall the immaculately ironed shirts laden over his arm, ready to be collected later in the evening. He also ran the tuckshop at weekends, and put great trust in those who assisted him.
But it wasn't until you were taught by Br Langan in Year Eleven that you experienced the true greatness of his character and, in particular, the influence he had on anyone privileged enough to have been under his care. Neighbours from around my home in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains who had been Old Boys of SPC back in the 60's and 70's, would invariably ask to be remembered to Br Langan when they found out that I was at Goulburn. Should I occasionally muster up the courage to mention their names, Br Langan would nod sagely, smile, and walk on. Whether going to Sydney from their homes in the Riverina, or heading to their homes from Sydney, there always seemed to be former students popping in to see Br.
As a teacher he was an inspiration. Lessons were thoroughly prepared and intellectually rigorous. His subject knowledge seemed inexhaustible. Economics, Chemistry, Religious studies, and Mathematics he taught to HSC level. His board work was a work of art. Beautiful, meticulous copperplate writing filled the black board, and it always seemed a shame when it was wiped away at the end of a lesson. Books, essays and exams were marked overnight, amazingly as he also had a dormitory to run. As a teacher myself, I can now appreciate the effort and work that must have gone into this. Also, as a struggling Chemistry student I appreciated the hours he would spend with me and other students on a Saturday morning after chores, revising and catching up on subject knowledge. He loved languages! I remember him always reading a dictionary in the dormitory, and he loved discussing the great Victorian novelists, Dickens, George Eliot and the like. He also loved the cinema, and was in charge of ordering the Saturday evening movies in the Old Hall (a highlight of the week), and managed and trained the projectionists.
Br Langan retired from being a dormitory master in 1986, so it seemed that my year would miss the opportunity of experiencing this aspect of Br Langan's many duties at SPC. However, after Br Powell was taken ill, Br Langan took over the management of the Year Twelve dormitory for the first term of 1988. This was for us an amazing stroke of luck, as we experienced the guidance of two exceptional individuals. He was a remarkable dormitory master. Caring and serious, he also made certain that activities were full of fun. Sunday evenings after prayers and study remain most vivid to me today. A barbeque by the Ken Jordon swimming pool to welcome the new academic year, coffee evenings in the top of the Old Villa with the girls from Marian College, card nights (where we bet with 2c coins), and house wrestling competitions in the Great Hall were just some of the things we did.
Br also organised a memorable weekend at the Brothers' house at Tuross Heads that term. For someone who seemed so conservative, he loved modern music. I remember he loved the soundtrack of the movie "Footloose", and would occasionally asked for a certain track to be repeated if played on the ghetto blasters in the dorm. I believe that you admire and like the people that bring out the best in us. This was true of Br Langan.
To us boys also, there was no doubt as to what drove him on, namely the conviction of his faith and his love for God, which were reflected in everything he did for us.
These words sum up so many of my own thoughts and feelings about this outstanding Christian Brother, a man whose family, especially Sr Marie Therese, Clare and Neil must be so very proud of.
Mac did have a very human side, aspects of which he would only show after a number of years of being together. Sometimes, the entire college at Goulburn were witness to his enigmatic thinking and style, demonstrated by the films that he organised for Saturday nights. Saturday nights were the highlight of the week (Donuts, Byrant’s pies and soft drinks). Mac had an unbelievable knowledge of films. He would organise the entire year’s programme over Christmas, and I suspect saw many of the films at that time as well. Mac would never be in the hall to watch, preferring to do cross words and listen to music in the community room. We would see the latest block busters, amongst the favourites being James Bond films. There was always a prelude to the main picture – usually interesting and thought provoking.
Mac had twenty changes over his teaching career of fifty-three years of teaching. Twenty-six of these years were spent at Goulburn where, I expect, he was happiest and most effective. During my time there, the staff used refer to Dan, Mac and Chanel as the ruling junta. Mac had a mighty influence on so many for good, not just academically but with sport, achieving much success with the seconds. He was able to transfer his fierce determination and drive to those he taught and trained. He had powerful arms and could slam a handball as hard as any student. There was much confusion concerning his surname, Langan. One of the four houses was named after Bishop Lanigan, so Mac was often called Br Lanigan, although Mac’s allegiance was with the Duggan house.
It was very hard to discover exactly what Mac’s thoughts on anything were. He always came up with an angle that had not occurred to you. His students loved his teaching. I was quite jealous of his ability – I was only too ready to erase my crooked and uneven blackboard scrawl so that other teachers could not see it. His classes were always so proud of their written work.
His meticulous style and preparation finally caused him much unhappiness because he could not adapt to changing demands, such as common exams, thus explaining why he had so many changes in the later part of his career. In his last few schools, he was occupied with coaching individuals, but they were unreliable and their teachers failed to provide the specific work that needed to be covered.
Mac loved listening to records. In 1985, the community room at Goulburn was done up and the record player replaced by a compact disk machine. He could never adapt to this change and never used the CD machine. He found change, as many of us do, exceptionally difficult, however, he always retained an optimistic outlook.
Myron Byrne commented that “Mac was no song and dance man, but when he gritted his teeth and spoke, you knew he meant business”. Mac’s business for sixty-eight years was truly “doing and teaching”. He, like Paul, is one of the noblest Brothers that I have ever known, as Eugenius would say – a giant of the congregation. He was a genius of a man who, I’m sure, loved God with all his heart and soul and loved all those under his care. Those who knew him well will miss him very much. He was refined and dignified, even in his last few days at Lewisham. Many thanks to Paul Corkeron and all who cared for him and visited him in his final weeks. Our sympathies are especially with Macartan’s sisters, Sister Marie Therese and Clare, his brother, Brother Neil Langan and any other relatives who are present. We will continue to pray for him now. He loved Latin so it is very fitting to finish with “requiescat in pace”.
Delivered at Rookwood Thursday Decemer 15th, 2011-12-16
Brother Christ Rafferty, cfc
