Richard Langman

Richard “Dick” Langman, a longtime Philadelphia newspaper editor whose career spanned 50 years, passed on June 13, 2026.

Richard was born in New York City on September 5, 1926. He graduated Stuyvesant High School in 1944, City College of New York (now CUNY) in 1948 where he majored in English, and he attended the University of Missouri Graduate School of Journalism.

He enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1944 when he was 17 and was called to active duty in early 1945, serving until World War II ended.

He worked briefly at the Associated Press in New York City then spent one season as a statistician for the Elias Baseball Bureau (now Elias Sports Bureau).

His first newspaper job was at the Hornell Tribune in NY where he was a sports and general-assignment reporter.

Next came the Pottstown Mercury in PA as a reporter and sports layout man, his most fateful move. A young woman named Betty Fabbri was working there as society editor (they had them in those days) and they were married 14 months later.

From there, he spent five years at the Allentown Morning Call in PA as a sports reporter and layout man before switching to a job as a general-assignment reporter, copy editor, and finally wire editor. In 1957, he won a first-prize award from the Pennsylvania Newspaper Publishers Association for front-page layout.

To get out of night work, he advertised for a job on an East Coast metropolitan daily, but to his immense surprise, both newspapers in Honolulu, Hawaii responded. He and his family moved 5,000 miles so he could take an editing job at the Honolulu Star-Bulletin where he eventually became sports editor.

The family returned to the mainland in June 1961 when he took a job at the Philadelphia Bulletin as night wire editor, eventually becoming an assistant city editor and news editor. In all, he spent 20 years at the Bulletin.

In late 1981, when it became obvious that the Bulletin was on its last legs, he moved to the Philadelphia Inquirer as a copy editor, floor editor, and assistant news editor before taking a post as an assigning editor with a new Neighbors section, remaining there until he retired in 2002 after 21 years at the Inquirer.

He and Betty enjoyed traveling, visiting Italy 10 times, France three times, and England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Belgium, Holland, Hungary, Austria, Czech Republic and Russia. He was a longtime sports fan, rooting especially for the New York Yankees, Green Bay Packers, and the Penn State football team.

He enjoyed classical music, poetry, mystery novels and British mystery and comedy. He also enjoyed playing duplicate bridge.

Richard was the beloved husband of Betty (nee Fabbri); loving father of Mark Langman, Peter Langman (Madeleine), and Andrew Langman; adoring grandfather of Joshua and Anna.

Relatives and friends are invited to graveside services Tuesday June 16, 2026, 11:30 AM at Riverside Cemetery, 200 S. Montgomery Avenue, Norristown, PA 19401. Shiva will be observed at the residence of Peter and Madeleine Langman in Allentown, PA on Wednesday at 7:00PM.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in his memory may be made to the Lenfest Institute for Journalism (lenfestinstitute.org).

Arrangements by Joseph Levine & Sons - www.levinefuneral.com