Gayle Beers Price, Jr

PRICE, Gayle Beers Jr., age 85, passed away on March 7, 2015 surrounded by family. Gayle was born to Gayle and Hazel Price on February 16, 1930 in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan at a Price Construction Company dam worksite. Originally from Charlevoix County Michigan, the Price family moved to Dayton, Ohio, to help rebuild the region's watershed infrastructure after the great 1913 flood. Gayle graduated from Oakwood High School where he excelled in academics and athletics and was fondly known as "Tiger Price". He graduated Princeton University in Princeton, NJ, where he met his wife of 62 years, Rita Fanget Price. They were married in Princeton in 1952 just after Gayle entered the Air Force, where he piloted F-84 jet fighters during the Korean Conflict. Gayle and Rita moved back to Dayton in 1956, when Gayle began working for the family business his grandfather started, Price Brothers Company, a construction products manufacturer. As CEO and President, Mr. Price expanded the company internationally, supplying technology and machinery for many large endeavors including The Great Man-Made River Project which helped supply water pumped from underneath the Sahara Desert to the North African Coast. Gayle was preceded in death by his daughter, Barbara Price Krumland (Rand). He is survived by his wife Rita, sons Matthew Price (Shary), Richard Price (Amy), and daughter Martha Price Richardson (Michael), as well as his sister, Sally Price O'Neill. Gayle and Rita are very proud of their eight grandchildren: Laura and Daniel Krumland, Steven, Liza and Brian Price, Sarah Price, and Michael and Gayle "Gage" Richardson. Gayle loved Dayton and was very dedicated to the promotion of the city. He was active in many civic organizations including The Chamber of Commerce, The Carillon, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, The United Way, and especially The Miami Conservancy District, where he spent 28 years as a valued board member, retiring in February, 2015. He was President of the Moraine Country Club and served on the Board of Bank One, Reynolds & Reynolds, and Advantage RN, as well as many others. Gayle was also a lover of modern art and donated, on behalf of Price Brothers Company, some of his favorite works to The Dayton Art Institute. Gayle learned from his parents the gifts of having a strong work ethic, being fair and honest and keeping a good sense of humor. He will be greatly missed by his family, friends, co-workers and board members. The family is grateful to Beth Powell, Mr. Price's financial assistant, and to caregivers Keitha Pugh and Ciara Ruthaford for their complete devotion to Mr. Price and the entire Price family. A Memorial Mass will be celebrated on Thursday, March 12, 2015 at 12:00noon at St. Albert the Great Catholic Church, 3033 Far Hills Avenue, Kettering OH, 45429. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent in memory of Gayle Price and in honor of the Miami Conservancy District's 100th Anniversary to 38 E. Monument Ave., Dayton, OH 45402.

Funeral Home:
Kettering Routsong Funeral Home
2100 E. Stroop Rd.
Kettering, OH
US 45429