Richard N. “Dick” Price, Lt. Colonel, USAF (Retired) “went West” on December 11, 2012, at the age of 80.
He was born in Akron on June 12, 1932, of parents Virgil D. and Helen M. Price (nee Ost), both of Akron.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by an infant son and his loving dog, Mugsy (who was 112 in dog years) who “went West” just four days before him.
Dick leaves behind, his brother, David; his loving wife of 26 years, Carmen Price (nee Austria); his daughters, Kathleen Ashcraft of Riverton, Utah, Elizabeth Peterson of Boise, Idaho; stepdaughter, Maria Lott of Nampa, Idaho; his stepson, Nestor (Jon) Melad of Lacey, Wash. Dick will also be missed by his 12 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Dick graduated from Bath High School in 1950 and held degrees in Engineering, Physics and Pharmacy, having attended The University of Akron, University of Illinois, Idaho State University and USC. He served as an Adjunct Faculty Member at the ISU College of Pharmacy. He served for 20 years in the United States Air Force as a pilot, intelligence officer, physicist, and engineer, including a tour in Vietnam and four year tour in Germany.
Dick worked as a physicist in the USAF Space Program in CA and at the Pentagon, and at the A.F. Rocket Propulsion Lab as the A.F. Chief Project Engineer on the F-111 Flight Test Program at Edwards AFT CA, retiring in the grade of Lt. Colonel in 1973. Dick then worked for six years as a Radiation Physicist at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He also worked as Director of Pharmacy and Assistant Administrator at the County General Hospital in Idaho and for 12 years at the Idaho State Mental Hospital in Blackfoot, Idaho, where he retired as chief pharmacist in November of 1999.
Dick had many interests over the years including music, hunting and fishing, world travel (all 50 states and 52 foreign countries), aviation, and competition shooting. He was an accomplished trombonist in his early years, playing in a number of different bands and orchestras in Ohio, Texas, and Florida, including The University of Akron Band. He held an airline transport pilot’s license and flight instructor’s certificate and set up and operated Executive Air Service, Inc.; an air charter service flying passengers for hire and doing flight instruction. He also flew the jump plane for his local skydiving club; Blue Sky Aviation and was an active member of the Idaho Civil Air Patrol, flying many air searches and rescue missions. He owned and operated several other businesses over the years including Price Prop. LLC., and a liquor bar which he set up and operated in the Downtowner Restaurant in Idaho Falls. Dick was a “Distinguished Master” in competition pistols and held a “Lifetime Masters” classification in every category of National Match and International Pistol Competition. He was All-Air Force and was appointed “Officer In Charge” of the USAF Pistol Team in 1972. He also competed in the Olympic final tryouts for free pistol in 1972. He was an Endowment Life Member of the National Rifle Association, Life Member of the Military Officer’s Association, Emeritus Member of the American Physical Society and “Life Member” of The American Legion and VFW.
Private funeral services were held at Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery in Rittman. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions be made in Dick’s name to help and rescue animals in need: Heaven Can Wait, P.O. Box 4865, Akron, OH 44310.
For online tributes and condolences please visit www.Catavolosfuneralhome.com. Arrangements under the care of Catavolos Funeral Home.