DR. JOHN TERENCE (TERRY) LANGAN, M.D.

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DR. JOHN TERENCE (TERRY) LANGAN, M.D.

January 13, 1942 - October 21, 2024

Peacefully, on October 21, 2024, at the Tuxedo Villa Care Home in Winnipeg, Terry Langan finished the race. He had kept the Faith.

Left to cherish his memory is his wife of 49 years, Mary (nee O’Reilly) Langan, his sons, Joseph (Debbie), John (Jeanette), Desmond and Robert (Maria), his sister Regina Rogers and many grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. He was predeceased by his father Dr. John Langan, mother Marie (nee Lenihan) Langan, and brother Karl Langan.

Born in Cork, Ireland, Terry grew up in Galway and Castlebar, the eldest of three children. He used to say that his was the first generation to grow up in an educational system formed by the patriotic heroes of Ireland’s long quest for freedom, and so he learned all subjects in Gaeilge through a continual prism of poetic nationalism. At Coláiste Iognáid (Ignatius College), St. Gerald’s and Gormonston College he grew to become a strong scholar and crafty center back while also learning to master slice serves and half volleys on the (always wet) grass tennis courts of the west of Ireland. He later attended University College Galway, where he played for the tennis team and earned a general medical degree by the age of 24. He then earned post graduate medical diplomas in the diverse specialties of pediatrics, obstetrics, infectious diseases, psychiatry and ophthalmology. He said that abiding poverty and a general lack of opportunity forced 24 of his 30 secondary school classmates to emigrate, which - along with his early education’s lessons on the need for good government and justice if a people are to succeed - imbued him with lifelong values for education, compassion and social welfare.

It was at a rugby party in Dublin that he met the love of his life; a student-teacher who had been raised in England by Irish parents. Convinced by a close friend to try a locum in a far off place called Manitoba, the young couple came to Winnipeg with a plan to only stay six months, but never left. They would eventually build a new life in a land where the lakes were bigger than their home country, the weather could be deadly, and the pubs had strange rules about opening on Sundays (they didn’t) or allowing children (also didn’t).

Yet persevere and build they did. On the first day of his new medical practice on Vaughn Street in downtown Winnipeg, two patients walked through Dr. Langan’s door. On the second day one patient walked in and on the third day no one walked in. But in time that small practice would serve tens of thousands of Manitobans from all walks of life, with cabinet ministers, street gangsters, corporation CEOs and newly arrived refugees all finding themselves in the same waiting room seeking that one thing that makes all individuals equal; the need for healthcare.

Not that it was always easy. When successive governments in the 1990s cut healthcare spending, word got out that Dr. Langan would not always enforce private fees for uninsured services. His practice gradually started to receive a disproportionate number of those who were in need but unable to pay. When a colleague asked why he didn’t turn away more of those who could not pay for uninsured services, Terry replied with his view that healthcare “isn’t about balanced budgets. It’s about helping the patient sitting in front of you”. He did.

But life was not all about work. In the first month of his arrival, Terry joined the Winnipeg Canoe Club, knowing no members but quickly befriending the one other Irishman he found - the bartender named Danny. By month four Terry had entered and won the tennis Club Championship (much to Danny’s delight). His newfound tennis fame proved somewhat embarrassing when everyone seemed to know who he was but he didn’t yet know anyone else’s name - or at least so he told Mary whenever he failed to properly introduce her. That summer Terry also joined the Winnipeg Lawn Tennis (Wildewood) Club and Niakwa Country Club, and later joined Unicity Racquet Club (Taylor Tennis Centre). Terry’s grass court touch and steely determination - coupled with a trademark white cap and three generation old tennis racquets - made him legendary on tennis courts throughout Canada. Over the next 40 years he and longtime doubles partner Dr. Klaus Wrogemann would become Canadian Senior Doubles Finalists in the Over 45 category and Western Canadian Champions in the Over 55, 60, 65, 70 and 75 age categories. Terry won numerous other singles, doubles and mixed doubles championships with other partners over the years. His favourite title of all remained a 1991 Manitoba Open Mixed Doubles Championship with Jana-Lea Callis. Other summer weekends were spent with fellow “Irish Mafia” members at Niakwa and, in time, the family cottage at Sandy Hook.

Many would have thought that his medical practice or tennis court prowess were the main interests of his life, not aware of the hours he spent every week studying news, politics, history, literature and religion. He read two newspapers a day (plus two more every weekend and several periodicals every month), studied theologians and academics and wrote many poems, plays and short stories - a couple of which were successfully submitted for publication. He followed and remained active in politics throughout his life (once painting his house red in honour of a Liberal Party election victory). His interest in the work, sport and the humanities was equaled by his love of people - he and Mary throwing multiple parties every December and January where songs and stories could continue past 4:00 a.m. Terry never missed a social event.

As a father, Terry sought to instill in his children many of the qualities he modeled himself: a concern for one’s fellow man, a good humour, a love of sport, and an open mind. But what his family will remember most was his steadfast love and commitment to Mary, the joy and fulfillment he got from the unique relationship he had with each of his sons, his enduring interest and concern for his many grandchildren, and his abiding faith. A committed Catholic, there has never been a better example of quiet, personal devotion to one’s beliefs. When departing a family member or friend’s company he would often exclaim “safe home!” (Slán Abhaile) or “keep the Faith!”. He did.

Prayer Vigil to occur at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 6 at St. John Brebeuf Church, 1707 John Brebeuf Place. Funeral Mass of Resurrection to take place at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, November 7, with reception and then interment to follow at St. Vital Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Doctors Without Borders.

And if there’s to be a life hereafter;

And Faith! I’m sure there’s going to be.

I will ask my God to let me make my heaven,

In that dear land across the Irish sea …

And watch the sun go down on Galway Bay.

E.J. Coutu & Co. Funeral Directors

204-253-5086

Tributes: ejcoutu.ca

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Oct 26, 2024, Oct 26, 2024