Ann Price

Mary Elizabeth Ann Jones Price was born 13 February 1929 in Pocatello, Idaho, and died 25 August 2024 in Kirksville, Missouri. She was the sixth of eight children of Luther Harrison Jones and Ruby Margaret Potter. She was named after her two grandmothers, Mary Elizabeth Handley Jones and Mary Ann Acord Potter.

She lived in Idaho Falls and Pocatello, Idaho, for 51 years, and lived briefly in Mountain Home, Idaho, and Williamsburg and Portsmouth, Virginia. In her later years she lived in Omaha and LaVista, Nebraska. After her husband and daughter Barbara died, she moved in with her son David and his wife Jeanette, living with them for 17 years in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, and Kirksville, Missouri.

She grew up with the nickname “Bonnie” given to her by her father (an adaptation of the name of the comic book character Barney Google) and used both “Mary Ann” and “Ann” in her later years. Ann, and her sisters Hazel, Jane, and Ruby, were inseparable growing up, going to county fairs, to the movies, to concerts, and playing in the canal near their home.

She attended schools in Idaho Falls and Pocatello and graduated from Pocatello High School in 1947. She also attended Idaho State College, particularly enjoying the choir, where she officially met her future husband. She knew of him beforehand – he was quite popular in high school, and they both were in the college choir. They hadn’t met until one day when the choir was to perform at an ISC home football game in the historic Spud Bowl (now Davis Field). She got to the game early, and noticed him come in and sit down by himself. She invited him to sit with her … and their relationship began.

She married Eugene Virgil Price on 17 August 1949 in Twin Falls, Idaho. They were engaged at least twice before but would have a fight and break up and then get back together. Finally, they eloped to Twin Falls and got married at the Christian Church there, sending a telegram back to inform her family in Idaho Falls. They honeymooned at campgrounds in the Idaho mountains. She regularly encouraged her children and grandchildren to elope. Eugene died 5 August 2001, just before their 52nd wedding anniversary. They had five children.

She was not particularly religious, attending activities with her childhood friends in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and in the Idaho Falls Christian Church. With her husband and others, they founded and attended the Unitarian Fellowship in Pocatello and later was active at the First Unitarian Church in Omaha, Nebraska. She described herself as an atheist.

She worked picking potatoes and raspberries while in school. She enjoyed “penny walks” around her neighborhood – as you reach an intersection, flip a coin to determine what direction to go. Then at the end of the next block, flip the coin again. She worked in a hotel coffee shop in historic Williamsburg, Virginia – but got fired for flirting with the customers. After marriage, she briefly worked for the Bell Telephone Company as an operator. With her husband, she hitchhiked across the United States to catch a ship to Europe, so Eugene could attend graduate studies in Geneva, Switzerland.

Ann loved to read, curling up in a window casement or a closet as a child, and especially loved mysteries. She had many intellectual pursuits and passed her love of learning on to her children.

She was exceptionally generous, regularly making donations to charitable organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, Habitat for Humanity, Consumers Union, food banks, and public radio and television. She shared her limited wealth with family members – often unsolicited gifts of money they didn’t expect.

She played the piano while family members stood around singing; she knitted, sewed, and quilted, loved gardening, cooking, canning, and colorful flowers, and played Sudoku and crossword puzzles. She spent many hours traveling to research her family history and shared her findings freely with others.

Ann was preceded in death by her parents, Luther and Ruby, her siblings and their spouses: Dorothy Lucile Jones Sanborn (Grant), Donald Leroy Jones (Virginia), Shirley Fae Jones Foley, Luther Handley Jones (Dorothea), Ruby May Jones Miller (Ivan), and Jane Jones Arnold (Kenneth). She lived longer than any other member of her family, longer than all but one of her ancestral relatives -- into her 96th year.

Her sister, Hazel, is the last living member of that family.

Also preceding Ann in death were her husband, Eugene, daughter Barbara Ann Price Johnson and her husband Bradley Johnson, grandchildren Amber Dawn Farnsworth and Robert Orlando Farnsworth, and great-grandson Wesley Scott Farnsworth.

Surviving members of the family include her sister, Hazel Wilma Jones Meyers, daughters Betty Price Farnsworth and Susan Price (Gary Bondurant), and sons David Price (Jeanette Cramer Price) and Andrew Price (Debbie Fastenau Price), along with 14 grandchildren, 23 great-grandchildren, and 16 great-great-grandchildren.

Her remains are to be cremated. Interment is to be determined later. At her request, no memorial service will be held. Her children and families will, however, always remember her and will get together occasionally without her consent to celebrate her life.

Arrangements are handled by Memorial Funeral Home, Crematory & Memorial Park Cemetery in Columbia, Missouri. She donated her brain to the Essential Tremors Brain Repository from the University of Texas Southwestern.

Those who wish to express their love and appreciation for Ann’s life are encouraged to donate to the American Civil Liberties Union or one of her other favorite charities (above) in lieu of flowers.