Not that his 16 years on the Springfield City Council were uneventful. Landfelder’s tenure coincided with Springfield’s move to an aldermanic form of government.
“I’m very opinionated,” he says. “It’s hard for me to change my mind. But aldermen who wouldn’t talk to me then bring me presents now. I don’t have any regrets.”
Both Ossie and Midge say his mayoral years had advantages for their family. Home from New York City to take his mother on an Alaskan cruise to mark her 80th birthday, youngest son Jacob, 36, says going to the National Mayor’s Conference in New York City when his father was mayor was the turning point of his life.
“Dad took all of us to New York, and I got to see my first Broadway play. I decided that night that I was going to be an entertainer. When I got my first big break I called my dad to tell him I landed a role in a touring company of The Sound of Music. My dad, who was not convinced about my career choice, asked me what role I was singing. I had to tell him the truth – that I was playing a Nazi military officer. Dad took it pretty well.”
Earlier this month, Langfelder celebrated his 85th birthday, receiving a phone call from former Congressman Newt Gingrich and taking some of his grandchildren out to lunch. “I looked at all that food in the restaurant and remembered when my sister and I had a single potato each and thought that was a good meal. If we were very good, once a week we got a banana. I’m grateful for the life I’ve lived and for what we have that so much of the world can only dream of having. So many people would look at our life and say this is heaven.”
Is there another book he’d still like to write? Jamie shifts uneasily in her chair, but Ossie seems taken by the idea.
“I’d like to write about Springfield politics, but I’m not going to do that. I might write about raising children. I should tell you the story about when we took all of our kids to a Milwaukee brewery.”
“Oh no,” Midge cuts in, shooting him a warning look. “Save that for your second book!”
Julie Cellini is a Springfield freelance writer.
She can be reached at Jcellini@ameritech.net.
Ossie Langfelder’s book, My Incredible Journey, retails for $9 at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com and CreateSpace.com. Langfelder will sign copies at 10 a.m. Aug. 27 at Barnes and Noble Booksellers, 3111 S. Veterans Parkway.
