November 17, 1934 to February 3, 2023

Stella Mary Karluk Langan, a resident of the Minooka section of Scranton, died Friday, Feb. 3, 2023 at home under the care of her daughters and Compassionate Care Hospice. Stella was married to Edward William Langan for 61 years at the time of his death on Oct. 2, 2013. Stella gave birth to 10 children, four daughters died shortly after birth. She and her husband raised and adopted their grandson, Edward. Surviving are Ann Christine Fanning (Bernard), Clarks Summit; Edward William Langan III (Mary Claire), Bruchmuehlbach Miesau, Germany; Michael John Langan, Dupont; Mark Alexander Langan (Joan), Scranton; Mary Allison Welling (David), Dillsburg; and Edward William A. Langan, Oneida, New York. She has 20 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren. The Civil War-era house that Stella and Ed bought on Davis Street in Minooka, in 1964, was known in the neighborhood at that time as the Adams Family House, from the TV show “The Adams Family.’’ The wood structure was previously inhabited by the Nee siblings. At the time of the deed transfer, it badly needed paint and had falling shutters and an overgrown backyard. Stella hated the house at first, but Ed promised his unhappy wife that he would fix it for her and he did, a few times over. Stella came to love the house that Ed “built” and said she never wanted to leave it. Stella was born of Polish emigrants on Nov. 17, 1934 in her parents’ home on South Wyoming Avenue in South Scranton. She was proud of her Polish heritage and her “cousin” Pope John Paul II. Her mother was Felicia Danilowicz and her father was Alexander Karluk, a coal miner. Stella was the seventh and last of her mother’s children. She quit high school after 11th grade at her mother’s orders. Girls didn’t need an education, she was told, her husband would take care of her. She married Ed at 18 in 1952 and became a mother for the first time at 19. Stella always regretted leaving school and earned a GED in her 30s. She was a voracious reader and a self taught Civil War and WWII historian. She was resolute in disposition, had a strong Catholic faith and a special devotion to Mary, the Mother of God. She was under five-foot-tall and endured chronic pain and disabilities for many decades. Stella was a stay at home mother and wife. She kept a beautiful and extremely orderly and clean home and lived by herself with the frequent help of her son, Mike and daughter, Chris. She was in daily touch by phone with her daughter, Ali. As she aged, her physicians strongly urged her to live with her children or in assisted living. She said she wanted to live and die in her own home. Her children helped her to stay in her home until her death. Besides her husband, she was preceded in death by her son, James Andrew Langan, in December 2020. Her late siblings are infant, Frances; Alexander Karluk, who died in France in WWII; John Karluk; Frank Karluk; Stanley Karluk; and Wanda Kashuba. All her brothers served in WWII. Stella loved all her nieces but spoke lovingly about her nieces Frances Welsh Boo and Dolores Ladyka, daughters of her brother John and sister, Wanda, respectively. The funeral will be conducted at Divine Mercy Parish, Davis St., Minooka on Monday, Feb. 6 at 10 a.m. Family and friends may pay their respects at 9 a.m. at the church.

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