1934 ~ 2025 (age 91)
Wayne Langston loved Jesus, loved Avon, loved Auburn football, and loved to laugh! He passed away at home on December 23, 2025, one month after his 91st birthday. The oldest child of James Washington Langston and Alma Elizabeth May, Wayne was born 25 November 1934 at home on Second Street in Columbus, Georgia. While he was growing up his family mostly lived in and around Montgomery, Alabama.
At nineteen, Wayne went to Bryan Field in Bryan, Texas, to be trained as an Air Force pilot. His first Sunday in Bryan he visited the church where Avon Burkhalter was the pianist. He graduated number one in his class and chose a career in rescue helicopters. His first assignment was in Greenland where he was awarded a national award for rescuing a team of scientists from a crevasse. After a year of prolific letter writing Wayne returned from Greenland and married Avon before they began their nomadic life by moving to North Carolina where their two sons, Darrell and David, were born. Their daughter, Gay, was born in New Mexico before the family ended up back in Alabama when the Air Force paid for Wayne to get his degree in electrical engineering from Auburn University, Magna Cum Laude, in 1967.
From there Wayne flew rescue helicopters in Vietnam during the TET Offensive and he earned the Distinguished Flying Cross. After three years in Florida he continued serving with his last two assignments in England and in Spain. Upon returning to Auburn, Lt. Col. James Wayne Langston retired from the Air Force 31 January 1974 at the age of 39.
Wayne’s second career was with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) throughout the Southeast, Maine, New Hampshire, and the last fourteen years in the Fort Worth area where he could frequently change jobs within the agency and Avon could live in one house for 30 years! He worked in many different roles within the FAA including NTSB but retired as Manager of the group that approved military helicopters built by the French company Aerospatiale.
Though he served his country through two full careers, Wayne’s passion was always serving the Lord. He volunteered with The Gideons, Baptist Men, and Lay Witnesses for Christ International where he and Avon dedicated years serving on the board and traveling to multiple Olympics and World Games. They also played key roles in the organization’s annual Christian Athlete of the Year Awards Banquets in Dallas, Texas. Another place Wayne and Avon invested their time was with Heart of Passion, a non-profit founded by their granddaughter, Savannah, in 2004. For several years they volunteered at the summer Red Carpet Day retreats for teens with cancer.
Wayne is survived by Avon, his wife of sixty-nine years, their children David (Patricia) James Langston of Notasulga and Gay (Tom) Solomon of Pine Mountain, Georgia, their grandchildren, Savannah Michelle Solomon, Sean (Ashley) Michael Solomon, Jeremy (Alexis) Scott Adams, James Patrick Langston, and great grandson, Hayes Foster Solomon. He is also survived by his sister C. E. Langston. He is predeceased by his parents, his sister Sandra Anne Langston, and his son, Darrell Wayne Langston.
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