E.W. Price

EW Price, Jr.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.-- EW Price, Jr, age 84, died Sunday, January 12, 2020. Visitation will be Saturday, January 18, 2020 from 1:00PM-2:00PM at Memorial Gunter and Peel Funeral Home at 716 2nd Avenue North. A Celebration of Life Service will begin at 2:00PM with Pastor Jason Browning officiating. Memorial Gunter and Peel Funeral home has been entrusted with the arrangements.

EW was born February 2, 1935 in Meridian, MS to EW Price, Sr. and Hazel Brown Price. They moved to Columbus in 1936 to open Price Auto Supply Store in downtown. EW “Sonny” graduated from S. D. Lee High School in 1952. He went on to attend Marion Military Institute in Marion, Ala. and Mississippi State University in Starkville, Miss. EW has always been an avid Bulldog Fan, he loved basketball and football.

He married Jane Garton in June, 1953. They had daughter, Susan, in 1954 followed by son, Wayne, in 1957. EW worked for the Commercial Dispatch and ran camera for WCBI-TV. He was a member of the WCBI Bowling team. In 1956, EW and Jane became owners of The Plaza Motel by the old river bridge crossing the Tombigbee River. They sold the motel in 1960 and opened Young Ages Children's shop across from the Princess Theatre. They added a Junior Shop after a move 1 block closer to the center of town in the basement of the store and called it The Cellar. EW began a second career as a manufacturers representative. He enjoyed that for over 30 years carrying several children’s clothing lines traveling the southeast. The stores were sold in 1969.

Also during that time his son began swimming with the Columbus Swim Association. EW was a very supportive parent. He loved the water. Many a Sunday afternoon you would find the family at the Tombigbee River around Laws Shoals swimming and skiing.

EW was a member of the Columbus Kiwanis Club and the Columbus Jaycees. He was an active member of First Christian Church serving as a Deacon.

In 1965, EW was elected to the Columbus City Council. Mr. Price thought he could help so many people by being on the Council. This council accomplished many things including: working with Lowndes, Oktibbeha and Clay counties and Starkville and West Point to form the Golden Triangle for the purpose of building the Golden Triangle Regional Airport; and he spearheaded the committee for The Columbus Zoo which was placed in Propst Park. It housed alligators, monkeys, llama’s and many more animals. His term was over in 1969 and the family moved to Slidell, La. on a bayou for a year.

In 1973, EW moved to Birmingham, AL to continue his traveling sales job of children’s clothing, before opening consignment shops and a tanning salon. He was successful in all his business adventures due to his love of people, he never met a stranger. Everywhere he traveled he made friends for life. He bought a place on Lay Lake to enjoy his love of the water, boating, water skiing and being around people.

EW was an active member of Metropolitan Church of God in Birmingham where he was an usher and a greeter. He loved God and he loved people, and everyone loved him, even the children at church and in his neighborhood.

He was adventurous and loved the outdoors. He enjoyed water skiing, snow skiing, boating and really loved the beach. Travel should have been his middle name. He loved to travel with family and friends from the south, to Mexico, Hawaii, the Caribbean and even up north to find the snow.

We are thankful for the kind staff at Columbiana Health and Rehabilitation where he lived the last few years of his long and wonderful life.

He is survived by his daughter, Susan Price Mackay; his son, Edward Wayne (Paige) Price; grandson, Eric (Ashley) Price; granddaughters, Alana (Mike) Whitehead, Amanda Mackay Connors, and Peyton Cook: great-grandchildren, Ashley Allen, Sadie and Elijah Price, Dresden, Ryland, and Millie Whitehead, Ella Foshee, and Andrew Connors.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in EW’s name to: American Diabetes Association, 2451 Chrystal Drive, Suite 900, Arlington, VA 22202 or diabetes.org; American Heart Association, 7272 Greenville Avenue, Dallas, TX 75231 or heart.org; The Gideons International Processing Center, P. O. Box 97251, Washington, DC 20090-7251 or gideons.org.