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Obituary courtesy of the Phoenix Society, Inc.
David William Lange, age 90, died March 6; he battled aspiration pneumonia for 10 years following radiation treatment for throat cancer. David was born on December 5, 1935, in Minneapolis, MN.
David was employed by the Agency for 39 years, 1957-1995, including 2 years as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. In the early 60s, he created and managed “The Analytic System”, a small computer that gave immediate results to the analysts-users. He helped develop computer standards for the Department of Defense and was presented with the National Intelligence Certificate of Distinction in 1996 by the Director of Central Intelligence. David had been a Phoenix Society member since 1997.
At the Agency David was keenly aware of the low-level jobs given to women, especially minority women. An all-white shop of mathematicians, linguists, and cryptanalysts was supported by a small group of all-black keypunchers. David arranged for one of the ladies to manage the computer runs rather than keypunch and thereby created a new career field for the women. After retiring in 1995, David turned to tutoring math at Greenbelt Elementary School. This evolved into a 14 -year volunteer program bringing in 30 to 40 weekly tutors, artists, and even office staff to help out at the school.
David and his wife Sandra enjoyed traveling, visiting the pyramids in Egypt, the Great Wall of China, and the mysteries of the Incas at Machu Picchu. Africa was a destination to visit her son and his step-son Alex in Tanzania. David greatly enjoyed genealogy and published 15 booklets on family history.
In his first marriage to Roberta Susan McFadden, David had three children. Robert Frederick Lange (now deceased), Jonathan Edward and Alice Chappell. His second marriage to Deanne Pelton ended in divorce. He married Sandra Ageloff in 1992. David is also survived by 7 grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren.
A memorial service is planned for May 30, 11 a.m. at the Greenbelt Community Center, located at 15 Crescent Road, Greenbelt, MD. Contributions in David’s memory may be made to Help By Phone, 6201 Belcrest Drive, Hyattsville, MD 20782 and the Greenbelt Community Foundation, PO Box 234, Greenbelt, MD 20768.