Sarah Price Wright

Sarah Price Wright died January 25, 2018, in Ridgeland, Mississippi. She was preceded in death by her husband, Mackey Mims Wright, Sr., her parents, Dr. and Mrs. Robert Black Price, and five sisters and a brother, Robert Black Price, Jr, Mary Kate Price Wells, Caroline Price Stockett, Anne Price Truly, Beverly Blount Price and Elizabeth Price Johnson.

She is survived by her sons, Mackey Mims Wright, William Richard Wright (DeAnn), and Dr. Robert Price Wright (Jennifer); and seven grandchildren: Mims Hughes Wright, Elizabeth Watson Wright, Neal Price Wright, Julia Hall Wright, Anna Reid Wright, Robert Edmondson Wright, and Sarah Price Wright.

Sarah lived a full and fascinating life. She was the first foreign baby born in Taizhou, Jiangsu Province, China, on January 16, 1919. The Chinese were thrilled by her birth and gave her a Chinese name-Mai Tai, Mai for American and Tai for Taizhou.

She was home schooled by her parents, who both served as missionaries in Taizhou, and she later attended Shanghai American School. She was musically gifted and played piano and violin. She played on the field hockey team, was elected vice-president of her senior class, and graduated in 1935.

She came to America to attend college and graduated from LSU in 1940 with a degree in Music. After studying piano in St. Louis, she moved back to Jackson in 1943, where she met her husband, Mackey Mims Wright while he was on leave from the Army. They were married soon thereafter in Sarasota, Florida.

Mims was called back into the Army during the Korean War and was eventually reassigned to duty in Frankfurt, Germany, where the family lived until 1954. After leaving the Army, Lt. Col. and Mrs. Wright returned to Jackson, to raise their family.

After Mims died in 1968, Sarah taught piano, and did so until she was called to return to the Mission Field in 1976. She was sent to teach music and English at Christ College in Taipei, Taiwan. The Chinese she had grown up with had never left her, and her language skills enabled her to use her abiding love for young people to influence many lives toward the embrace of Christ.

Sarah returned to Jackson for good in 1993, where she again taught piano. She was active at First Presbyterian Church as a choir, piano player, and an inspiration to all, young and old, who knew her.

In 2008, she revisited her birthplace, Taizhou, China, where she was honored by the staff of the hospital that her father, Dr. Price, had founded in 1917. Although it had been 73 years since she had left, she seemed right at home, enjoying what few landmarks of her childhood that remained, and chatting with staff and locals, usually in the Jiangsu dialect.

Sarah’s life has been an inspiration to all whom her life touched--friends, students, fellow missionaries, and, most of all, to her loving family.

Funeral services for Sarah will be at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 28, 2018, at Parkway Funeral Home in Ridgeland with visitation at 2:00 p.m. Interment will be at Parkway following the service. In lieu of flowers, contribution may be made to the General Fund at First Presbyterian Church, North State Street, Jackson MS 39202 or to one’s favorite charity.