A dedicated employee who always took time to get to know his customers, Gordy Langness was a longtime fixture at the Mill Avenue Holiday gas station.
Langness, 62, died Thursday, Jan. 31, and will be widely remembered throughout the Brainerd community.
"From the first time that I met Gordy more than eight years ago, he was always kind, gentle and wanting to help in any way possible," Holiday owner David Quisberg wrote in an email to the Dispatch Monday. "He didn't care who you were, he was going to find out your name, how you were doing and what he could do to make your day better."
An outpouring of love for Langness came in the form of more than 400 comments on a post by the Mill Avenue Holiday Facebook page announcing his death Friday.
Commenters ranged from friends who knew him personally, co-workers who learned from him professionally and gas station customers who said they always enjoyed seeing his friendly face.
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"He had a passion for getting to know people and taking an interest in their personal lives," wrote former Holiday manager Ken Gondringer, who knew Langness for about 30 years. "He was a very dedicated, hard-working Holiday employee, and there was nothing he wouldn't do for the company."
Langness put in 37 years at Holiday, first as a manager at the store on South Sixth Street and then more than 20 years at the Mill Avenue location.
But what some may not know was the faithful employee's lifelong dream of becoming a police officer.
"He had a passion for law enforcement," Quisberg wrote in his email. "So, naturally, he made a point to help out the police in any way and in any matter that he could find. By the time I met Gordy, many of the officers in the area would come to Gordy with questions because he knew so much of what was going on in Brainerd."
Quisberg was new to the convenience store business when he bought Holiday eight years ago and found it easy to turn to Langness with any questions he had.
"He was always willing and ready to show me or tell me anything that I needed to know," Quisberg wrote, noting he can't think of anyone who didn't get along with Langness.
"He was one of a kind in the best way possible," Quisberg added. "Never to be replaced, not because we won't try, but because it just can't be done. He was that amazing of a person."
Arrangements for Langness are pending, according to the Brenny Funeral Chapel website.
