Mr. Langfan was born in 1922. He grew up in New York City in an Orthodox home.
He graduated George Washington High School, New York City 1939, University of South Carolina, 1939-43, Cornell Law School, 1946-49 and attended the Sorbonne in the summer of 1945 while serving in the US Army.
He served in the US Army Service-Anti-aircraft unit 1943-1945 (including Battle of Britain –shot against V1 German rockets, landed in Normandy, fought across France, Belgium (including the Battle of The Bulge), Germany to a few miles from the German-Czech border when the war ended.
Throughout the war, Mr. Langfan served as the interpreter for his army unit where he was fluent in French and “Tsbruchener” Yiddish. He rreceived the French Legion of Honor Medal for his service in France.
Most of Mr. Langfan’s adult life has been spent in the Real Estate business. He started his own successful real estate firm in 1960, The William K. Langfan Company, which is now run by his children.
He has created 6 permanent endowments, five are annual oratorical contests on the subject of the US Constitution at 3 colleges (University of South Carolina, Yeshiva University, University of Chicago), one law school (Cardozo Law School), and one high school (Horace Mann High School). One is for a moot court competition for first year law students at Cornell Law School.
Mr. Langfan has donated 2 ambulances to Mogen David and contributes to Israeli Universities and many other Israeli institutions.
In 2011, in honor of his participation in the liberation of Buchenwald, Mr. Langfan lit a candle in Auschwitz for the March of the Living; he received the
Palm Beach Synagogue “Lover of Israel” award; and together with his son Mark, he received the ZOA’s Justice Brandeis award at the annual dinner.
In 2013, Mr. Langfan was awarded the Guardian of Israel Award by the Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center.
Mr. Langfan has donated four sefer torahs to four different synagogues in Palm Beach and West Palm Beach. He also contributes annually to his high school, college, law school, along with many other charities.
Mr. Langfan has 3 children and 6 grandchildren, all of whom share his love of Israel, and of Judaism.