Benjamin Thomas Price, 1904-1991

Benjamin Thomas Price was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on April 26, 1904. In 1913, the family moved to Cumberland, Maryland and it was here that Ben matured. Circumstances forced him to leave school at the age of 12 but his hunger for knowledge never abated. As an older teenager he felt the call to the ministry in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, of Cumberland. Here also Ben met Geneva Bittinger, who became his wife and partner in ministry for more than 66 years. Ben was the preacher and Geneva the musician who helped where needed in every church they served.

He began his ministry as a local preacher serving first in Hardy County, West Virginia. He was then appointed to the Riverton Charge where he was able to enroll at Randolph-Macon Academy, finishing high school in three years and being admitted to Roanoke College where he received the Bachelor of Arts degree. His next goal was to become an ordained minister. By way of the course of study taken through correspondence with Emory University he reached this goal and became a full member of the Baltimore conference. At the time of Methodist union in 1939 he was serving the Fauquier Circuit. He found himself then in the Alexandria District of the Virginia conference. In the Virginia conference he completed 40 years of active and effective service, retiring in 1966.

In addition to the charges mentioned, Ben served: the Roanoke Circuit, Fauquier, Newport-Pembroke, Montvale, West End in Portsmouth, the Henry Circuit, Urbanna, Campostella, Kenwood and Trinity in Richmond as associate. In writing his remembrances of a long and fruitful ministry, he wrote about going to Trinity, "This was really the only time I had the opportunity of choosing where I would serve and it proved to be the best and happiest of all my churches." He approached ministry with a zeal and commitment which were viewed with admiration and appreciation. Surely no one could have profited from a more loyal or devoted associate than he was for the writer of these memoirs. He was a trusted friend and confidant. He will be missed.

Ben was very much a baseball player and fan. He had great skill as a pitcher and a hitter. He used baseball as a tool of ministry, reaching out to the young people in playing where there were teams and organizing teams where there were none. He wrote, "I felt I could do as much good outside the pulpit as in it as it gave me the opportunity to meet and help people that I never could reach otherwise."

The Rev. Benjamin T. Price is survived by his wife, Geneva, and two daughters, Patricia (Mrs. David Ruskus) and Barbara (Mrs. Luitpold Wallach). A service of memory was held at Trinity United Methodist Church in Richmond conducted by his pastor, Dr. Eugene R. Woolridge, Dr. Harry B. Eaton, and the writer. With thanks for his ministry among us, we commend his spirit to the Heavenly Father.

-James W. Turner