Philip Clifton Price

Philip Clifton Price born May 29, 1943 to Grady Clifton Price and Sally Faye Kirkland Price in Hollis, Oklahoma. Hollis Elementary School was his introduction to the arts when he directed Hansel and Gretel for his school and PTA at the age of nine. His family later moved to Amarillo, where as a Distributive Education student, he won the State of Texas Advertising Layout and Copywriting Contest. He decided at the age of eighteen that advertising would be his career of choice. He would later be inducted into the Amarillo High School Sandie Hall of Fame in 2003.

Phil attended Amarillo Junior College, West Texas A&M University and graduated from Texas Tech University in 1967 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Advertising. The Texas Tech College of Mass Communications selected him as their Hall of Fame recipient in 1995, and he was also honored by the university as a Distinguished Alumni in 2005.

Upon graduation, Phil was drafted into the United States Army, leaving his position as vice president of a local/national publishing company. During basic training at Ft. Dix, New Jersey, he was named Trainee of the Cycle and continued on to Officer Candidate School at Ft. Benning, Georgia, where he was designated an Honor Graduate. Upon completion of OCS and a cycle as a tactical officer, he was immediately assigned as an Infantry Platoon Leader with the 2/8th (Mech.) Infantry Battalion (Highlands) in the Republic of Vietnam. His platoon was appropriately name the “Panthers.” True to the Infantry creed of “Follow Me,” he was wounded and medically evacuated to a MASH unit at Camp Zama, Japan, then to a Class A hospital at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. He was awarded the CIB (Combat Infantryman’s Badge) Purple Heart and Bronze Star with Valor in Combat. He was fond to quip that he was shot with a Soviet rifle, wounded by a Chinese grenade and all during the Ho Chi Minh cease fire.

Phil was honorably discharged and became a civilian the day after the May 11th tornado that devastated Lubbock. The tornado also destroyed the publishing company he had pledged to return to work for after his military service. With no job, he called upon his high school desire to pursue advertising.

In 1972, Phil Price Advertising Agency was born with the acquisition of two major clients during the same week: Malouf’s Gentleman’s Fine Clothing and Gene Messer Ford. The agency was recognized locally, regionally, and nationally with numerous awards during the 42 years of his service to the community. The Lubbock Chamber of Commerce awarded his company, The Price Group, the 2012 Business of the Year Award. In 2014, the Southwest Advertising Federation inducted Phil into their Hall of Fame. He served as Governor to the Tenth District of the American Advertising Federation encompassing four states. Phil was the first recipient to be recognized west of Dallas Metroplex for his outstanding service to advertising from that organization.

Phil’s creative ambitions continued from his third-grade experience with Hansel and Gretel to his writing, producing and directing of his original stage plays, seven in total. The one most locally recognized was “Heavenly Country.” It replaced Paul Green’s “Texas” at the Palo Duro Canyon Amphitheater in Canyon, Texas, on Sunday evenings during the summer of 2004. “Lone Star Rising,” under the direction of Neil Hess, successfully played four and one-half years at the national outdoor amphitheater near Fritch, Texas.

Phil’s writing skills were prolific. Fiction was his passion. He won countless awards with his four unpublished fiction novels throughout Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. It is ironic that his three non-fiction books were published first.

Recounting his time in military service, Phil was instrumental in obtaining funds through Senator John Montford to assist Jim Reckner, founder of the Vietnam Center and Archives. The center, the largest repository of Vietnam memorabilia outside Washington D.C., is housed locally in Lubbock, TX. The three veterans traveled back to Vietnam in 2000 to present scholarships and medical equipment to the Vietnamese people. Under the direction of then mayor Wendy Sitton, Phil presented a sister city a proclamation between their local university, Texas Tech University and the City of Lubbock.

In 1960, Phil started “going steady” with Vicki Veazey. They were married September 9, 1966, at which time she became Victoria Price and followed his incredible journey through all the facts of his exciting life.

He is survived by his sisters, Jodi Kaumalats (a.k.a Jodi Thomas) and twin sisters Jean Vinson and Dean Paxton (Don) all of Amarillo, Texas; five nephews and two nieces and many other relatives and friends.

Visitation will be Friday June 12, 2020 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. in Abbey Chapel at Resthaven Funeral Home followed by Graveside service at 11:00 a.m. at Resthaven Memorial Park.

Remembrances can be made to #575 Phil and Victoria Price-Endowed Scholarship at Texas Tech University.

You May Visit the Price Group Face Book Page to View a Video of Philip's Life.

https://www.facebook.com/ThePriceGroup