Charlton Reed Price

Charlton R. Price, of Bainbridge Island, Wash., died on Nov. 27, 2024, of kidney disease. He was 97. An extrovert and conversationalist, Charlton fully enjoyed the company of others and spoke a handful of languages besides his native English: chiefly French, German, and Portuguese. He engaged in conversation with everyone and enjoyed sharing phrases and greetings with immigrants to the United States. He worked in Portugal, Hungary, Morocco, South Africa, Egypt, Jordan, India, Zimbabwe, Japan, and occupied Palestine—both as a paid management consultant and later as a volunteer with the International Executive Service Corps.

He was born in Morristown, New Jersey, to Harold and Elizabeth Price on Aug. 14, 1927. Charlton studied at what is now Northfield Mount Hermon boarding school, at Princeton University ('48), and as a graduate student at Columbia University. Very shortly after the end of World War II, he served 18 months as a Sergeant in the Army Medical Service. He also enjoyed faculty appointments in the graduate business schools at the University of Kansas, Columbia University, and the University of Puget Sound. He was a consultant in management development research at Stanford Research Institute and spent two decades in the U.S. and internationally as a consultant on organizational design and management development.

In 1998-99 he co-led a World Bank infrastructure redevelopment project in Hebron, Palestine—an experience that fueled his advocacy for justice for Palestinians living under Israeli occupation. He also strongly supported universal medical access—quizzing his doctors about the Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP). He enjoyed and supported Seattle’s membership library Folio, and its frequent informed political discussions.

He was proud of his Princeton personal and professional connections and attended many reunions over the years. He volunteered for the Princeton Alumni Weekly, editing many of his classmate’s obituaries.

Charlton’s avocation was music; he was the drummer in jazz groups in the Army and at Princeton, and in summer musical theater while staff sociologist at the Menninger Foundation in Topeka, Kansas. He was a fan and friend (to them, “Charlie”) of jazz greats Clark Terry, Jimmy Rowles, and Richie Kamuca, among others. He also loved opera and classical music—Richard Strauss was perhaps his favorite composer and Der Rosenkavalier his favorite opera, and he loved discussing the merits of the conductor Claudio Abbado.

Charlton met first wife Virginia (née Jones) while a staffer at the Boeing Co. in the early 50s and is survived by four children from that 12-year marriage—Reed, Helen Price Johnson, Curtis, and Evan—and their families. Charlton married Greta (née Meyer) in 1980, and they lived in Kansas City. After Greta died in 2006, Charlton moved to Seattle and, in 2016, to Bainbridge Island.

A memorial service is planned for 1:00 PM on January 19. 2025 at the Eagle Harbor Congregational Church (UCC) on Bainbridge Island. In remembrance of Charlton’s life, the family asks that any charitable donations be made to Bainbridge Island Senior/Community Center. Charlton was a donor to the UW Willed-Body donation program and his cremated remains will be interred at Evergreen Washelli Cemetery