Kenneth Peter Langbehn, Jr. died at home August 18, 2013 at the age of 85, in the arms of his wife of 35 years, Veleria Richmond Langbehn.
Kenneth was born at home in Vero Beach, FL on Sept. 13, 1927, to Kenneth P. Langbehn, Sr. and Barbara De Kold.
He was married to Patricia Laub Langbehn Nelson (dec.) and they had five children, Sharon (Art) Noriega, Vero Beach, Leonissa (Tom) Abraham-Dean, NH, Wayne (Wendy) Hopkins-Langbehn, CT., Cynthia (Robert) Gruber, Vero Beach, Georgenna (Michael) Biganzoli, Ocala. Kenneth had one sister, Mary Jo Mancini (dec.), four grand-children, one great grandchild, two nieces, and 3 cousins.
Kenneth was the owner and operator of Langbehn’s Bakery in Vero Beach, FL, and a fourth generation German baker. The Langbehn’s came from Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany in 1873. The Langbehn family was one of the pioneer families of Vero Beach, coming from Moline, IL, in 1924. Henry Langbehn bought land west of town, Royal Park and beach property and then built the Flora and Penn Apartments, on Royal Palm Blvd., in one of which Kenneth was born. Kenneth’s grandfather Henry was a master baker, studying in Germany. The bakery was located in the Gifford Building on Old Dixie and then moved to the Pocahontas Building on 14th Ave. On March 19, 1949, Henry built his shop at 1610 16th Avenue and 20th Street. Kenneth took over the bakery after Henry and Anna died in 1956-57. Kenneth was a master baker also and many of the old formulas came from Kenneth’s great grandfather Peter Langbehn’s bakery and candy shop in Moline.
Kenneth graduated from Williston Academy prep school in Easthampton, Mass., he spent 3 years in the Air Force and attended University of Penn.
He was a kind, loving and gentle soul, always with a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye. He loved tennis and played from the age of 10, in later years he took up golf. He loved his roses, vegetable garden and the outdoors. Kenneth was baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses in 1990 and was faithful until death. His hope was to be resurrected into a Paradise earth, to serve Jehovah forever.
It has been such a long time and our paths never crossed after Williston, but I have warm memories of Kenneth Langbehn as an especially thoughtful, steady, pleasant, dignified yet unassuming classmate. I seem to recall helping him with his German but had no idea of the bakery that was to be in his future as well as in his past. A perfect occupation and for such a wholesome persob. I remember him ever so fondly.