Fred Langstaff, past president of New York State School Boards Association, 79

Fred Langstaff had a reading disability that made school a torment, but he transformed that frustration into a lifelong passion for education, serving on a bevy of school boards and as the immediate past president of the New York State School Boards Association.

Essentially, the Long Island native knew the disheartening feeling of being an educational outcast, branded by his teachers as lazy, and became committed to making sure no other student suffered similar treatment, family members said.

"Fred was dyslexic when in high school, and they didn't know anything about it at the time," said his wife of 55 years, Debby. "His parents were told he was lazy. That's what used to happen to students with learning disabilities."

Fred Langstaff, 79, of Sayville, died Monday at home of complications from cancer, his family said.

Born in Mineola and raised in Oakdale, Langstaff left Sayville High School before graduating and joined the Marines. There, he received his high school equivalency and later an associate degree in applied science telecommunications technology from Suffolk County Community College, family members said.

Shortly after leaving the Marines, he met his future wife at a local pub, tying the knot within three months, in September 1967.

"Fred was very charismatic. He was a great people person," his wife said. "Everyone felt welcome in his presence."

Involvement in education

The couple settled in Sayville, and Langstaff went on to a 30-plus-year career as a lineman for Verizon, helping to repair phone lines, put up new ones and run wires from poles to people's homes, she said.

But Langstaff left his largest footprint on Long Island education. He served on the Sayville school board for nine years in the '80s, one as president. He was a founding member of the Sayville Civic Association. He had been a member of the Eastern Suffolk BOCES Board of Education since 1998, serving as the board's clerk since 2003.

He was NYSSBA's Suffolk-area director from 2007 to 2019, according to the group. Langstaff served as president of the state school boards association from 2020 to 2021, where he was a champion for children with disabilities and programs that promoted diversity. His mantra was, "A ZIP code should not determine a student's outcome," the group said.

"He was my mentor, friend, guide and a true example of a servant leader," said Catherine Romano, who served with him on the Eastern Suffolk BOCES Board of Education.

Romano, who serves as the Suffolk director for the state school boards group, recalled him as a man with "a flock of white hair and mustache … with requisite hand-knotted bow ties and crazy socks."

He had a gift for connecting with children, lowering his 6-foot-2 frame down to them, finding something they were interested in, and talking with them at length, family members said.

Advocate for organ donations

Langstaff continued to serve through serious illness, as he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2000, his wife said. He got through that, but the chemotherapy weakened his heart, and he underwent a heart transplant in 2012. 

His license plate read "2ndlife" and his moniker was Tin Man, a nod to the new heart in his chest.

Forever grateful to the young man who provided that heart, Langstaff became a supporter for organ donations, family members said. He would show someone his colorful socks — red, white and blue for July Fourth, Christmas colors for the holidays — and somehow turn the conversation to organ donation, his wife said.

His daughter, Krystie Langstaff of Sayville, recalled her father as a big man with hands the size of bear claws, but who never used his size to intimidate people. 

"He wanted everybody to be entitled to the best education," she said.

She added, "He was the last of the gentlemen from that generation."

His son, Fred "Jamie" Langstaff III, also of Sayville, and his two grandsons plan to don his bow ties at his memorial service at 10:30 a.m. Aug. 19 at the Sayville Congregational United Church of Christ. A "Celebration of Life" will follow at the Langstaff residence.

Survivors also include his brother, Charles Langstaff of Tampa, Florida and a sister, Paulette Pilkington of Michigan.

By Craig Schneider

craig.schneider@newsday.comScraigo

Craig Schneider is a Long Island native and Stony Brook University alumnus. He joined Newsday as a general assignment reporter in January 2018 after 20 years at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.