SHS Honors Mary & Richard Langworthy
The Society finished 2023 by paying tribute to its two longest continuously serving members: the indefatigable Mary and Richard Langworthy. Although Mary and Dick have had to step back from their activities in recent months, they remain stalwart supporters of the Society and its mission.
Mary’s time with the group began over 25 years ago, when the late Vera Bell and Beatrice Mirth started to gather a sizable collection of Sheridan artifacts (many from their own families) in the unused second floor of the former town hall (now the Sheridan Historical Center). Mary was one of a handful of people who came together to support the women’s efforts. Together, they resurrected the town’s defunct historical society and, in 1999, began the arduous task of getting the Society chartered by the New York State Board of Regents.
With no heat in the “collection room” at the town hall, the devoted few poured over the chartering requirements at Mary and Dick’s West Sheridan home. Joining the effort were the couple’s daughter, Traci, and former Sheridan Town Clerk Julie Szumigala, both of whom remain active in the SHS. After several evening mega-meetings, the voluminous paperwork was nearly ready to send to Albany. The last step was for the group to adopt its constitution and bylaws and elect its first-ever Board of Trustees. With that accomplished in January 2000, the petition for chartering went in the U.S. mail, with Mary’s signature as SHS president. June brought the good news: The SHS was officially incorporated in the state of New York.
Mary went on to serve in various offices through 2022. All told, she has logged 15 years as president, five years as vice-president, and three years as secretary. No doubt, she would still be a regular at events were it not for a serious injury she suffered in late 2021. Dick, too, enjoyed a stint as Society president, serving in that role between 2003 and 2005 before taking up the treasurer’s post for 11 years, from 2009 to 2019.
The couple’s combined years in office hardly tell the full story, however. As Virginia Becker, a founding board member, described it, “Mary and Dick Langworthy embody the loyal qualities of service to an organization. In their many years of involvement with the historical society they have been in the forefront of making it visible and viable. Mary and Dick have contributed greatly in making the society what it is today.”
Indeed, it might be said that the Langworthys’ lives have been intertwined with that of the Society. Seldom has a major project been undertaken since 2000 without Dick and Mary being part of the team. As the Society’s unofficial facilities manager, Dick has tended to everything from annual furnace inspections and pest prevention to building repairs and exhibit construction. Mary was a driving force behind the Society’s involvement in the town’s 2004 bicentennial celebration. The couple also worked diligently to help the SHS purchase the current Historical Center in 2015.
Although it might have gone without saying, the SHS board used the occasion of this past Christmas to make sure the couple knows how much they are appreciated. On Dec. 8, members held a surprise party in their honor at the Sheridan Memorial VFW Post No. 6390. Dick was on hand to receive the group’s gratitude firsthand. Well wishes and gifts were sent to Mary at Absolut Care in Westfield.
These official gestures were not without more personal meaning. Current Treasurer Susan Bigler noted how much she has learned from the Langworthys, both in and outside of their mutual Society work. “I will forever be grateful I have gotten to know them,” she said. As for their contributions to the SHS, Bigler added: “I really can’t say enough about how Mary and Dick have been so instrumental in the continuation of the historical society, and how they kept it operating, with Dick maintaining the building and keeping the books for a long time and Mary leading us as president and contributing so much to everything we have tried to accomplish. It certainly has not been, and will never be, the same without them at our meetings.”
“Although my parents can’t be as active as they once were in the group, I know they will continue to support the Society’s work as they are able,” Traci Langworthy said. “I also know how much they appreciate the group’s words of support and thanks,” she added.
The most fitting words of tribute may be those offered by the couple’s niece, Lori Mayr, who has served as the Society’s president since 2018. “For many years our SHS has been blessed with two dedicated individuals. Their ideas, support, and passion for our mission have remained steadfast,” Mayr said. “No words can truly express our gratitude for their efforts to keep Sheridan history alive,” she concluded. “Mary and Dick, we honor and love you!”