Raymond Langley Sr

Raymond Edward Langley was born in Detroit on February 1, 1940. He was the only child of the late William Marcel Langley and Louise Johnson Langley. He attended Detroit Public Schools and Henry Ford Community College.

Raymond had a military career in the United States Navy that spanned 14 years. While in the Navy, he held the ranks of 1st Class Engineman, 1st Class Diver, Machine Mate, and Striker. He dove to depths of 320 feet on mixed gases of helium and oxygen as a deep-sea diver. In the early 1960s, he was one of the first five African American deep-sea divers in the Navy along with Carl Brashear, who was the very first African American diver and inspired the film, “Man of Honor,” starring Cuba Gooding chronicling the seemingly insurmountable hardships and discrimination he was forced to endure in order to achieve that goal and become a “first.” Raymond was able to successfully complete the requirements for deep-sea diver on his first attempt—unlike many others who trained with him.

He joined the Detroit Police Department in March, 1970 and worked until his retirement in 1994 from the Telephone Crime Reporting Unit. He was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1975 and continued to go to work every day though he eventually required the use of two canes to walk.

Raymond married Gertrude Elizabeth Zeigler on September 25, 1962. To that union two sons were born, Jeremy Ray Langley, and Raymond Edward, Langley, Jr., who followed their father into the field of law enforcement as a special agent for the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives and an officer with the Macomb County Sheriff’s Department, respectively. The light of his life was his two grandchildren Isaiah and Raeana Langley.

Raymond leaves to cherish his memory his devoted wife, Gertrude; his sons Jeremy and Raymond, Jr.; daughter-in-law, Yvonne Langley; two grandchildren, Isaiah and Raeana Langley, and host of relatives and friends.

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