Eugene Fredrick Price

Feb. 4, 1920 - Jul. 21, 2016

Date of Service: Jul. 26, 2016

Eugene Fredrick Price

BURLEY – Eugene Fredrick Price, 96, of Burley, died Thursday, July 21, 2016, at Parke View Rehabilitation and Care Center.

Eugene (fondly known as “Gene” to family and friends) was born Feb. 4, 1920, in La Harpe, Kansas, to Juddie George and Emma Elizabeth Widman Price. His parents divorced when he was a small child. When he was 10 years of age, his family moved to Missouri, but farming during the Depression days was discouraging. The family moved to Burley in 1936, where his stepfather, Luther Warren, started the Starr’s Ferry Lumber Yard.

Following the outbreak of World War II, Gene went to California, where he attended aircraft school. He worked for Lockheed and Douglas aircraft manufacturing companies as an electrician on P38s and other aircraft. While living in California, Gene married his sweetheart from Burley, Bertha Kraus, on May 17, 1941. They were married 68 years when Bertha passed away on May 30, 2009.

For a time he was deferred from the draft because of his work, but in 1944, he was called into the service. He served in the Army Signal Corps and later in the infantry. Near the end of the war, he was sent to France, where he was serving when the war in Europe ended in May 1945. Subsequently, he traveled throughout much of Germany and into other countries including France, Austria, Switzerland, and Luxembourg. He was discharged from the Army on July 5, 1946, after having earned the Central Europe Battle Star.

Upon returning home, Gene and Bertha purchased an acre of pastureland west of Burley where they built what was to become their lifetime home together. Gene was not a trained carpenter but was knowledgeable enough with the fundamentals to be able to build a fine home just the way they wanted it. He also built various outer buildings for storage and other needs.

As Gene commonly said, “he sold quite a pile of iron” during the more than 36 years he worked for Chisholm Brothers and its successor, Gem International, in Burley. During that time he sold much of the farm machinery distributed in the Mini-Cassia area. At the time he worked for Chisholms, he purchased about 200 acres of sagebrush land above the canal near Milner. He cleared the land, drilled the well, and installed concrete ditches. That farmland was a source of great satisfaction. In addition to his farm, Gene enjoyed fishing, camping, gardening, and golfing.

Gene was a longtime member of the Ebenezer Congregational Church in Paul, Idaho, where he served many years in various offices.

He is survived by his daughter, Betty Jean Seesee (Ken) of Burley; son, Monty J. Price (Carlene Paarmann) of Pocatello; daughter-in-law, Toni Price of Boise; grandson, Matthew Price (Jennifer) of Boise; three great-grandchildren, Allison, Mason and Andrew of Boise; a Goddaughter, Mary Ann Lebsack Perez (Rob) of Boise; two sisters, Edith Osterhout of Declo, and Etta Ann Wright (Gene) of Burley; and numerous nieces and nephews.

In addition to his wife, Bertha, he was preceded in death by his parents; a son, Jim E. Price; one grandson, Michael David Seesee; a brother, John Warren; and one sister, Pauline Watson.

The funeral will be held a 1 p.m. Tuesday, July 26, at the Ebenezer Congregational Church, 121 N. Second West, in Paul, where friends and family may call one hour prior to the service. Officiating will be Pastor John Downs. Burial will follow at the Pleasant View Cemetery in Burley, where military rites will be accorded by the Mini-Cassia Veterans Organization.

Arrangements have been entrusted to the care of the Rasmussen Funeral Home of Burley.