Mary C. Lange: ‘We had the means. We wanted to help.’

Clem Lange may have been the face of Best Chairs, his son, Brian Lange, told a banquet crowd Wednesday night. But it was his mother, Mary C. Lange, who made so much of it work.

“While dad may have been the face of the business, Mom was the person behind so much of what made it possible,” said Mr. Lange. “She raised four kids (through) the ups and downs of building the company, helped create a culture that treated employees like family, and is finding countless ways to give back to the community, but these efforts were never about seeking attention.”

Mary C. Lange received the 34th annual Distinguished Citizen Award from Scouting America’s Buffalo Trace Council on Oct. 7 at the Ferdinand Community Center. She is the third woman to receive the award and the first spouse to share the honor. Her husband, Clem, received the award in 2010.

“What an honor it is to be here,” Ms. Lange told the crowd in accepting the award. “I want to thank the Buffalo Trace Boy Scouts of America Committee for this recognition, and all of you for coming this evening. It means a lot to me. It means so much to have family, friends, and community partners here to share this with me.”

In her acceptance speech, Ms. Lange talked about her upbringing. She was the eighth of nine children to Urban and Collette Fuhs, raised on a farm on Jasper’s southeast side next to what is now the Jasper Sports Complex. The family’s farmhouse had no electricity, hot water or indoor toilet until power came through around 1947 (she thought). She studied by gas lantern in elementary school and used an outhouse for a bathroom.

“Mom would sew my dresses and matching underwear out of decorative chicken feed sacks on her pedal-powered sewing machine,” Ms. Lange said.

She met Clem at 15. He joined the Army in 1958 and was sent to Germany, and they wrote letters almost every day. “No texting or Facetiming back then,” Ms. Lange joked.

He came home Feb. 3, 1960, and proposed that night with rings he had carried home from Germany. Ms. Lange said they married Oct. 6, 1960 and “nine months and 20 days later, we were a happy family of three.”

In early 1962, Clem was an upholsterer at a Jasper factory that kept sending workers home for lack of work. After one more early dismissal, he came home and told her, “We are going to start our own business.”

“And again I said, ‘Of course,'” Ms. Lange told the crowd.

Money stayed tight. They rented an upstairs apartment for $40 a month and couldn’t pay the $40 doctor bill for Sheila’s birth; she said, joking, that she told Sheila later that she was surprised the doctor didn’t come get her for not paying the bill.

With the success of what became known as Best Home Furnishings, Ms. Lange said she and Mr. Lange would often talk about how blessed they were and how important it was to return those blessings to the area that had supported them.

“When we had the means to help, we wanted to do our part,” Ms. Lange said. “I enjoy being able to help others with their needs, and I hope those blessings will continue for generations to come.”

That vision is evident throughout the area. Mary C. and Clem were lead donors for the Lange-Fuhs Cancer Center at Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center in Jasper, helping to bring high-quality cancer care closer to home for local families. They were instrumental supporters of the Tri-County YMCA in Ferdinand, now the Clem and Mary Lange YMCA, a facility that serves children, families, seniors and individuals across Dubois, Perry and Spencer counties.

Their generosity has supported the Ferdinand Community Center, the new St. Henry Community Center, the St. Henry, Holland and Ferdinand Fire Departments, Forest Park athletics, Holland Park, Ferdinand 5th Street Park, the Ferdinand Folk Festival and Heimatfest, the St. Henry Catholic Church cemetery and many other local projects, often without seeking recognition.

In 2002, Clem and Mary C. established the Clem and Mary Lange Best Chairs Endowment for the Benefit of Ferdinand, Holland and St. Henry through the Dubois County Community Foundation. The endowment continues to provide lasting support for charitable projects in the communities closest to the heart of the Lange family and the Best Home Furnishings workforce.

In closing, Ms. Lange offered some advice to the many scouts serving at the event.

“Clem and I grew up poor, poor, poor, poorer than poor,” she told the Scouts in the crowd. “We had to work hard, believe in ourselves, and keep going when things weren’t easy. So do your best. Be someone others can count on, and surround yourself with good people. Be kind and helpful, just as you’re learning in Scouts. And when you have a chance to help someone, take it.”

While praising his mother, Brian Lange pointed to the Lange-Fuhs Cancer Center. He said that his parents heard stories of friends, family and employees driving long distances for cancer treatment, “sometimes over three hours, multiple times a week.” So, they decided to donate the funds to open the treatment center in Dubois County. In 2007, the Lange-Fuhs Cancer Center opened its doors, bringing treatment closer to home for many cancer patients.

“The cancer center is just one example of many ways my parents approached life. They simply saw need, figured out how they could help, and did it,” Brian told the crowd.

“They taught us that success isn’t just what you build or what you accomplish, but about the people you bring along with you, the people you help, and the differences you make.”

In a letter printed in the event invitation, Mary C. Lange wrote, “Clem and I always believed that when a community supports you, you should do everything you can to support it in return.”

The guest speaker was Jennifer Pharr Davis, a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, award-winning entrepreneur, and writer. In 2011, she became the first woman to set the overall speed record on the Appalachian Trail, finishing in 46 days.

Davis built her talk around Scout values and the lessons she learned through hiking. She asked the crowd to raise a hand each time one of the Scout values came up. Then she kept turning them back to Lange.

After graduating college at 21, Davis decided to hike the Appalachian Trail’s 2,200 miles for the first time. She said hiking the trail alone at 21, with little to no experience, took bravery. “But it was not as brave as being 21, already having an infant, and supporting my husband as he starts a new business,” she said about Ms. Lange.

Her longest tie-in came from her 2011 record attempt. Her husband met her at road crossings with food and gear. On day 12, sick and behind pace, she told him she was done. He told her she felt too bad to make a good decision and to keep going until the next day. She did, and through his push and her own perseverance, she finished.

Davis said the Langes had the same kind of marriage. “You met each other at the road crossings, and you gave each other what you needed, whether it was for work or for the family,” she said.

She drew a line between a trophy and a legacy. “If you ever need to choose between an accomplishment and a legacy, choose a legacy. And if you want to know the difference, it’s relationships,” Davis said, pointing to the roughly 380 people in the room.

Her words echoed Brian’s words about his mother and father.

“They taught us that success isn’t just what you build or what you accomplish, but about the people you bring along with you, the people you help, and the differences you make,” Brian told the crowd.