Lloyd S. Price

Lloyd S. Price, age 79, of Little River, South Carolina passed away on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Born on January 19, 1945, in Spartanburg, SC, he was the son of the late Lowel and Bertha Higgins Price. He was the loving husband of 59 years to Ruth Price.

He met Ruth at Cleveland Memorial Hospital, where he was a patient being treated for stomach ulcers and she was a patient being treated for pneumonia. They were introduced by another patient, Onie Baker, that claimed to know the other one, without actually knowing either. Mr Baker approached Ruth's hospital room and said he wanted her to meet a good friend of his, Lloyd.

They shared their first kiss on the hospital elevator. After he took her home from the hospital, their courtship lasted a year before he proposed. They were married on October 1, 1965. He and Ruth were members of Bethal Baptist Church of Shelby, NC for over 40 years.

The CEO of Shelby Leather Inc. Lloyd was an entrepreneur that never met a stranger while traveling throughout the world. He was the first American to travel into rural parts of China, where he met to import commodities into their country. He also frequently visited Austria, Germany, Korea, Hong Kong, Pakistan. Although Lloyd enjoyed experiencing different cultures and especially their foods, Southern Home Cooking topped the list!

From an early age, he was self-taught to play the guitar by ear. His favorite included playing Bluegrass with various friends and family. You would often hear him playing the song he loved the most, Wild Wood Flower among various country artist from the 60s such as George Jones, Hank Williams Sr, and Stone Wall Jackson. Throughout his childhood, he would travel to his Uncle's orange grove in Lakeland, Florida from Shelby, NC. The family's orange groves were later bought out by Florida's Natural Orange Juice.

Over the past 40 years, Lloyd resided in several beach homes that he built in North Myrtle Beach. His love of flounder fishing in the channels of Cherry Grove where he once earned him the state record for the largest flounder caught in SC and he also enjoyed trolling the deep waters of the Caribbean for sailfish. Although he loved North Myrtle Beach, he always claimed Shelby as home.

Surviving are his children, Tonya Price of Wilmington, North Carolina, Tim Price of Forest City, North Carolina, Camela Elliott of Grey Court, South Carolina; his special Chinese Crested Dog and door greeter, Zeeli; three grandsons, Joseph Elliott, Cole Price, Austin Price; his one favorite granddaughter, Jacquelynn Elliott; a beloved grand dog, Zeke; and six great-grandchildren. Also surviving are his siblings, Hazel Thompson of Jonesville, South Carolina, Fred Price of Raleigh, North Carolina, Gene Price of Valdese, North Carolina, Faye Vinson Jonesville, South Carolina and Carolyn Abee of Jonesville, SC; thirty three nieces and nephews. In addition to his parents, his dear mother and father in law, Horace and Millie Allen preceded his in death as well as his siblings, Ruth Price, Evelyn Lydia, Lucille Free, Bud Price. He had a beloved Chinese crested dog, Zarryck who gained his angel wings in 2018 at the age of 18.

The family would like to extend appreciation to MSA Hospice, Lori, Tanea, and Brenda as well as a very special thank you to Kim for her extra daily care given to Lloyd.

A Dinner and Celebration of life, for friends and family, will be private on Oct. 19th at 4:30pm.

Please share memories and condolences at www.leefhandcrematory.com