Archibald Donald Lang (1948 – 2021)
Archie Lang was born near Dawson Creek, minutes before his twin Daniel, to parents Hector and Margaret (Campbell) Lang. Hector moved the family to Whitehorse in 1958 when he found work as a carpenter building the fish ladder. Archie graduated from F.H. Collins in 1967 and completed a carpentry apprenticeship. He worked primarily at mine sites throughout the territory before taking over jobs in retail and then inn-keeping at the Carcross Caribou Hotel.1) He was a few months into his one-year lease of the Carcross hotel when he had a night-time encounter with the ghost of Mrs. Gideon, a proprietor of the hotel who died in 1933. The hotel was very busy the next day, as local people came in to hear Archie’s story.2)
Archie purchased the Watson Lake Hotel at age twenty-five and established himself as a Watson Lake proprietor for the next twenty-five years. He and Karen Grzebinski were married at the Upper Liard Catholic Church in 1976. They expanded their business operation to include the grocery store, gas station, and an outfitting concession. They had two children, Graham and Meagan. Archie and Karen moved to Whitehorse in 1994 to operate the Super A grocery stores, take over the Capitol Hotel in Whitehorse, and Skagway’s Sgt. Preston’s motel. Archie eventually operated grocery stores across northern British Columbia and the NWT, and from Dease Lake to Old Crow in the Yukon. He was a generous contributor to the communities. He sold the stores in 2002 and was elected for two terms in office representing Porter Creek Centre in the Yukon Party. He retired from politics in 2011 and purchased Porter Creek Super A. Archie Lang passed away in 2021 after a short bout with cancer.3)