Lewis Leroy Langness

Lewis Leroy Langness

Lewis Leroy Langness died on May 14, 2018, in Spokane, Wash., surrounded by his family, after a 12 month-long battle with cancer.

Lewis was born in

Spokane on Oct. 29, 1929 — the day the stock market crashed, ushering in the Great Depression. He had a happy childhood, however, and was raised in Wallace, Idaho, by his parents Cleveland Williard and Judith Langness.

After high school he spent time in the Army, and was stationed in both France and Germany.

Upon leaving the army he went back to school to get his Ph.D in Cultural-Anthropology. In the late 1950s he did his field work deep in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. There he lived among some of the last tribes to give up cannibalism, many of whom had never before seen a European.

Over the next 30 years he would have numerous books published, most of them on Anthropology, and retired as a Professor Emeritus of Anthropology from the University of California Los Angeles in 1990.

From 1991-2017 Lewis lived in Bonners Ferry, forging many wonderful friendships and involving himself in various community groups.

He is predeceased by his wife Linda, and survived by son Julian, daughter-in-law Jordann, grandson Graeson, and daughter Judith.

As per Lewis’s wish, no service will be held, but heartfelt thanks go out to all of his numerous friends, who provided him great happiness in the last years of his life.