- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Lange was born and educated in western Washington. In 1942, he joined the Naval Air Corps and, after three and a half years of active duty, he returned to Oregon State University, where he graduated in 1950 with bachelor's and master's degrees in horticulture.
In 1954, Lange earned a doctorate degree in plant physiology at UCLA and accepted an associate horticulturist position at the University of Hawaii. In 1958, he moved across campus to head the Weed Control Research Program for the Pineapple Research Institute of Hawaii.
Lange returned to California in 1962, accepting the position of weed control specialist with UC Cooperative Extension, first at the Davis campus and later at UC Riverside. In 1970, after spending part of a sabbatical leave in Columbia, Chile, and Central America, he relocated to Kearney.
During Lange's years in California agriculture, he was active in the California Weed Conference as a frequent speaker and a member of the steering committee. In 1986, he was named an honorary member. With the financial support of the California Weed Conference, he initiated the Grower's Weed Identification Handbook. Lange was named a fellow of the Western Society of Weed Science in 1977.
Lange retired in 1986 with the emeritus title. In retirement, Lange managed his Honey Crisp Farm in Reedley. He excelled at producing tree- and vine-ripe fruit as well as unsulfured dried fruit, which he sold at a roadside stand, at farmers markets, to fresh produce distributors and restaurants.
