Clifford F Price

Clifford F. Price, 89, of Palm Harbor, Florida died Sunday, January 6th at Mease Countryside Hospital in Safety Harbor, FL. Born January 27, 1923, he was one of four sons of Frank and Mildred (Huchel) Price. He married Kathleen Helen (Downing) Price at the McClure Avenue Presbyterian Church 1944 where he was represented by the late William and Nora Good, also from the Northside. They were married for 64 years.

He spent the majority of his childhood and teenage years with Mary (Gram) Huchel. He graduated from Oliver High School in 1941 where he played football and ran track . He was deployed to the Pacific Theatre with the 3rd Marines, 3rd Recon Battalion, and at times a special detachment to the 9th Marines. He conducted beachhead reconnaissance as a Browning Automatic Riflemen (BAR) prior to island assaults and conducted surveillance behind enemy lines on New Hebrides, New Guinea, Bougainville (Solomon Islands) and Guadalcanal.

He drove a lumber truck for Adelman Lumber Company in Pittsburgh, and attended night school at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Business where he graduated in 1952. He then purchased Consolidated Wood Products, an advertising and design business in Pittsburgh, PA, where he designed and built bathroom displays for 31 years, retiring in 1986. In 1959, he was the National Association Home Builders (NAHB) display and advertising builder of the year. His displays were built for the New York World's Fair, the Houston Astrodome, Chicago's McCormick Place, and National Home shows in San Francisco, Miami and numerous other exhibition halls around the country. He was a talented builder, electrician, plumber, welder, machinist, wood worker, spray painter and draftsman. His company was the number one display builder in the city of Pittsburgh from 1957 through 1983.

He built his own home in Gibsonia, PA with help from his father, brothers and son. He was a charter member of the Bakerstown American Legion Post 548 where he designed, built and maintained the baseball complex. He coached the American Legion team as well. He was an avid fishermen all of his life and loved the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers where he spent much of his childhood summers living on Brown Island. He purchased a cottage on the Allegheny River in Emlenton, PA after retirement for four years where he loved to fish and spend time with his children and grandchildren.

Clifford is survived by his son Roger (Toni) Price of Pittsburgh, PA, daughters Carol Price (Bill Batykefer, fiancé') of Palm Harbor, FL, Pamela (Leonard) Braun of New Port Richey, FL, Sherry (Larry) Krueger of Pittsburgh, PA; brothers Frank Price (Dawn) of Oregon and Harris (Dorothy) Price of Pittsburgh, PA. He was preceded in death by brother Louis (Dorothy) Price of Gibsonia, PA. Also surviving are grandsons Zachary (Danielle) and Aaron (Natalie) Price, both of Pittsburgh, PA, and great grandchildren Braylen and Bailey Price.

A memorial service will be held in July at Allegheny Memorial Park, Allison Park, PA where military honors and the ashes of both parents will be placed together in resting. A last wish ceremony will also be conducted on the Shadeland Avenue Bridge, Pittsburgh (Northside). Announcements will be sent to friends and family.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Wounded Warriors Project or Guiding Eyes for the Blind. Arrangements are by www.mossfeasterpalmharbor.com

This was Clifford's favorite poem:

"SONG OF THE RIVER"

The snow melts on the mountain

And the water runs down to the spring,

And the spring in a turbulent fountain,

With a song of youth to sing,

Runs down to the riotous river,

And the river flows on to the sea,

And the water again

Goes back in rain

To the hills where it used to be.

And I wonder if Life's deep mystery

Isn't much like the rain and the snow

Returning through all eternity

To the places it used to know.

For life was born on the lofty heights

And flows in a laughing stream

To the river below

Whose onward flow

Ends in a peaceful dream.

And so at last,

When our life has passed

And the river has run its course,

It again goes back,

O'er the selfsame track,

To the mountain which was its source.

So why prize life

Or why fear death,

Or dread what is to be?

The river ran its allotted span

Till it reached the silent sea.

Then the water harked back to the mountaintop

To begin its course once more.

So we shall run the course begun

Till we reach the silent shore,

Then revisit earth in a pure rebirth

From the heart of the virgin snow.

So don't ask why we live or die,

Or wither, or when we go,

Or wonder about the mysteries

That only God may know.

by William Randolph Hearst