ST. MICHAEL: Bernie would have loved this service

I'm sure you've all sat through dull speeches at memorial services that offer little but bland, generic platitudes.
That was totally not the case at the unforgettable service for the late Bernie Langer on Saturday morning at St. Michael Lutheran Church. (Bernie, who lived in Springdell, West Marlborough Township, died Sept. 24 at age 78.) The Rev. Frederick DeRasmo Jr. donned a blue hard hat while speaking, a nod to Bernie's extremely active role on the church's building committee. "Pastor Rick" had us alternately laughing and reaching for our tissues as he recounted just a few of his experiences, good and bad, over the past two decades with Bernie, who was, in his words, "a character."
Andrea Loveland, who worked for Bernie and his wife, recalled accompanying Bernie and his beloved dog, Alfie, to the Jack Russell races recently; the dogs, she remembered, were not the only ones barking at her. And Gordon Rowe, who brought his adorable newborn daughter to the service, spoke fondly of the life-changing times he spent in idyllic "Langerland" along the banks of the Doe Run.
The music -- traditional hymns and Bach -- was beautiful and entirely appropriate to Bernie's tastes.
The standing-room-only service was a perfect sendoff for a man who will be missed by so many people.