Jersey Journal/1963/Track Star Owen Langan

Track Star Owen Langan. Early Movie Magnate. The funeral of Owen Langan, 80, prominent Jersey City athlete and an early movie magnate, will be held Monday from the Quinn Funeral Home. Mr. Langan died Thursday at St. Francis Hospital of a heart attack while undergoing a checkup. He retired 15 years ago from his director's post with the Federal Housing Administration in Newark. He was one of the first employees of the federal agency. Mr. Langan, a native of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, lived most of his life in Jersey City. A great running star in his youth, he held records for the 220-yard low hurdles and was both Metropolitan and champion. He was named to the 1908 Olympic team but missed going, to London because of injuries suffered in a trolley car accident. He and Harry Hillman, Mel Sheppard, Abel Kiviat and weight-lifter Matt McGrath, comprised the most formidable American track quintet known until the advent of the California teams of recent years. His first business venture was a partnership in the VitaGraph Pictures Studio in Jersey City. He sold his interest to a group that later became the Twentieth Century-Fox Studio. He was a friend of the late Mayors [sic] George Brensinger and Frank Hague of Jersey City. Mr. Langan's wife, Mrs. Mary McCabe Langan, died three years ago. He lived at 160 Vroom St, Jersey City. Mr. Langan attended Our Lady of Victories Roman Catholic Church.

Notes: George F. Brensinger was a member of the Jersey City Department of Revenue and Finance, and not a mayor. Frank Hague was a Mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey from 1917 to 1947. The original text identified the 1908 Summer Olympic weightlifter as "Pat McGrath" instead of the correct Matt McGrath. The original text spelled Mel Sheppard as "Mel Shepherd".