The Nashville community is in mourning after former Tennessee State Rep. Edith Taylor Langster, the city's first ever female and Black female patrol officer, died this week.
Langster died Sunday. She was 75.
With her passing, the community has lost a valuable member of Nashville's history, Davidson County Register of Deeds Karen Johnson said in a statement.
“Our community and our city have lost a giant with the passing of Edith Taylor Langster, a former State Representative, Metro Council member, and the first African-American woman and first woman to serve as a patrol officer for Metro Police. We not only mourn her as a trailblazer, but we have lost her wise counsel and her endearing friendship," Johnson said in the emailed statement.
“I recently visited with Rep. Langster at Vanco Manor, and she shared her regular wise advice to help me focus on what matters. I am a better public servant because of her frequent counsel and friendship."
Johnson said Langster opened doors for all Nashville women in public service.
Langster, a Painsville, Ohio native, graduated from Pearl High School in 1967, about 15 years before Nashville's federally-mandated desegregation plan combined it with Cohn High School.
She joined the Metro Nashville Police Department in 1972, taking steps to allow women to seek police work beyond administrative desk positions , and kicked off what was a life dedicated to public service. Langster worked as a police officer for about 10 years.
“Being a police officer with the Metro Police Department, I had the opportunity to protect and serve the people of Nashville and Davidson County," Langster was quoted as saying. "The police department made me who I am and prepared me for future things in life.”
Langster received a bachelor's degree in sociology from Tennessee State University and began a career as a counselor. She eventually became a program development specialist at a Nashville mental health facility.
In 1991, Langster began her political career, winning the District 20 seat on the Metro Nashville Council. She worked for one term before winning the District 54 seat in the Tennessee House of Representatives.
In her 12 years at the state house, she chaired the house local government subcommittee and was a member of the house consumer affairs subcommittee, assistant majority Whip. In 2007, she won a tight runoff for the Metro Council District 21 seat and continued to serve there until 2015.
During the 2011 election cycle, Langster spoke about her policing background and the impact it had on her political career.
"You deal with everyone from the homeless to where there's no ceiling," she said in 2011. "You could entertain the governor and the mayor. That prepares you for your work on the council because you treat people with the same respect and the same regard, no matter their walk of life."
A viewing will be held for Langster from 3-5 p.m. on Friday at Lewis and Wright Funeral Directors, 2500 Clarksville Pike. A visitation will be held from 11 a.m. to noon Saturday at St. Ann Catholic Church, 5101 Charlotte Avenue, with a funeral mass to follow.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: First female Nashville police officer, Tennessee Rep. Edith Taylor Langster dies at age 75
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