Boyd Jacob Price

Boyd Jacob Price, known as “Jake” to his family, was born on December 3, 1940 in Willow Spring, Missouri, to Effie Marie (Sanders) Price and Samuel Richard Price, Sr. In those days, doctors made house calls, so Jake was born at home in a log cabin the family lived in at the time. He was the youngest of five children and had two older brothers, “Sam” (whom the family called Dick so as not to be confused with his dad, since he was a junior) and “Bob,” and an older sister “Jac.” A much older half-sister “Vervenia” had already grown up and left home. Jake’s dad sold life insurance at the time and his mom was a homemaker, busy taking care of the 4 children at home and also took in ironing for other people to make extra money for the family. The family lived in Willow Spring until Jake was 4, then moved to Kansas City, Kansas in about 1945 into a tenement house on 6th Street off Minnesota Avenue. Jake-4 and his brother Bob-6 were fascinated with the street car that ran right in front of their home and made a close study of where the street car braked and stopped every day. One day they talked their mom into giving them a jar of dried beans. They thought it would be a grand idea to line the beans up on one of the street car rails right about where the conductor braked every time, thinking it would be fun to watch the beans get smashed. And of course, the beans did get smashed, but they also made the rail extra slick so the street car couldn’t brake and stop properly – needless to say, the conductor didn’t think the beans were such a good idea. After about a year in the tenement house, the family moved to the Maple Hill area and Jake started first grade at Sacred Heart Catholic School. It was a 2-room schoolhouse and he shared a classroom with his brother Bob, who was in the third grade. It was in Jake’s first year of grade school that his father passed away from an automobile accident. After his father’s death, at the end of the school year, Jake transferred to Junction Elementary and his mom went to work at Lee Wald Company sewing boys’ clothes, which is how she clothed her sons for school. Jake’s summers were spent running the countryside with his brother Bob – they’d leave the house right after breakfast and come home only after dark when their mom called them in for dinner. Jake and his brother Bob were inseparable and together they had many childhood adventures, often supervised by their older brother Sam/Dick. Bob says their older sister “Jac” tried to supervise them, but to no avail. Jake finished grade school at Junction and started high school at Turner, but lasted only a couple of weeks. Despite having only a grade school education, Jake always found work – mainly in the construction industry. He worked for Barcus & Sons and then Sheffield Steel for a time, but spent the majority of his working career at Rylie Equipment Company as an Operating Engineer and was a long-time member of the Local 101 union. Jake married young – the first time at 19 – and divorced 10 years later. He was a bachelor for some years, then married Helen Sebby. He and Helen bought a home and lived in the Maple Hill area for more than 30 years. Though Helen’s children were already grown when they married, Jake developed a good relationship with Helen’s children: Rodny, Theresa, Silissa and Rocky. Jake had a great sense of humor and a wonderful laugh – though was also known to have the famous “Price temper.” He loved to tease and tell jokes; loved automobiles, trucks and his John Deere mower; and was an avid collector of Civil War and WWII memorabilia. Jake never had any children of his own, but enjoyed a very close relationship with his nephew “Sam,” the two even working at the same company for 8 years where they had coffee together every morning. With just 14 years difference in their ages, Jake and Sam were more ‘best friends’ than uncle and nephew, and Sam was a frequent visitor at Jake and Helen’s home. Jake passed away at 1:00pm on July 6, 2015, at Garden Terrace where he lived for the past few years after suffering a series of strokes. He was preceded in death by his parents Samuel and Effie Price, his sister Jacqueline Marie Price, and Helen Price – his wife of 38 years. He is survived by his older brothers Samuel Richard Price, Jr. and Robert Wayne Price, Sr.; nephews Samuel Richard Price III and Robert Wayne Price, Jr.; and nieces Cynthia Ann Gander, Sherry Marie Curth, Kari Kay Price, and Dana Marie McCray; and several great-nieces and nephews. He was laid to rest on July 10, 2015, at Maple Hill Cemetery alongside his wife Helen, his parents, and his sister “Jac.”

Tributes

Boyd Jacob Price

December 3, 1940 - July 6, 2015