Anne M. Price Obituary (1924 - 2019)

Anne M. Price, 94, of Corning, died September 6, 2019, at the Absolut Care of Three Rivers nursing home in Painted Post. She was born in Corning on September 17, 1924, the daughter of George Vest and Hulda Hawkinson McCauley, joining two brothers, George Gordon, and James Edgar, at their home on East Fourth Street. In June 1942, she was salutatorian of her graduating class at Corning Free Academy, where she was editor of the school's yearbook, The Stator. Anne graduated from Northwestern University in June 1945, receiving a B.A. in liberal arts with a major in French and a minor in Latin. In her last year at Northwestern, she was offered a job by the Bureau of Cryptography in Washington, D.C. However, the war ended before she was able to begin work there. Anne married Warren L. Price at Christ Episcopal Church in Corning on June 28, 1946. Warren, a chemical engineer from Omak, Washington, had been recruited by Corning Glass Works during his senior year at the University of Washington in Seattle. He was hired to work in the Optical Department during the war years. After the war ended, he remained in that department for a total of 41 years as a supervising engineer working with ophthalmic lenses. Having learned to knit at about the age of 10, Anne was drawn to the idea of running a yarn shop. She opened The Yarn Shop in 1948 and operated it until 1951, when her first child was born. Another son followed two years later. While her children were enrolled at Severn Elementary School, Anne became president of the PTA there in 1957, and she organized a shop where students could buy school supplies on-site. One year later, she became president of the Corning-Painted Post PTA Council, as well as president of Corning Hospital Chapter F. During this time, James McCollough, principal of Severn School, urged Anne to get a teaching certificate so that he could hire her to be on his staff. She completed over 30 hours in education at Elmira College, but did not seek an advanced degree. In the summer of 1959, she was hired by Wilbur T. Miller, principal of Corning Free Academy, to be a second French teacher, working with Josephine Kresge, who had first appeared in Anne's life in January 1940 when she took over the role of French teacher at CFA. Although Anne had planned a music career, it took Mrs. Kresge only one semester to convince Anne to major in French. Anne loved being a French teacher, and she organized many annual fun events for her students. On two occasions, she took students to France: 24 students for six weeks in 1968, and 15 students for three weeks in 1978. She also directed at least six spring vacation trips to Quebec City in Canada, involving 60 to 80 students each time. Anne was also faculty adviser to the French Club and to The Bulldog Bulletin, CFA's newspaper. After her retirement from teaching in 1980, Anne returned to her love of needlework. She had joined the Corning Chapter of the Embroiderers' Guild of America in 1978, and she was its president in 1980-1981. She bought a store on Market Street, called it The Golden Unicorn, and made it much more than a knitting and crocheting shop, expanding it to include needlepoint, cross-stitch, and many other kinds of specialty needlework. She offered classes on a regular basis and sometimes brought in nationally known teachers. She sold the shop in 1995. Anne's religion was very important to her. She was a lifelong member of Christ Church, where she took on many duties: as a Sunday school teacher, a member of the junior and senior choirs for over 45 years, and a member of Christ Church Women, United in Service, an organization of more than 300 female parishioners, which she served as president in the late 1950s. In later years, she was a member of the church's worship and missions committees. Another organization to which Anne devoted much time and energy was Delta Kappa Gamma, an international female educators' society, in which she held a variety of leadership positions at the local and state levels, beginning in 1972. Two other organizations that were very meaningful to Anne were Meals on Wheels and the Corning Free Academy Alumni Association. She was a director of Meals on Wheels for three years, and treasurer of the CFA Alumni Association from 1998 to 2016. Anne is survived by her sons, Richard Warren (Sheila Matthews) Price of Big Flats and John Kevin Price of Corning; her grandchildren, Kimberly Anne (Kyle) Thompson of Corning and Jonathan Richard Price of Middletown; and their mother, Pamela Price, also of Painted Post; several brothers- and sisters-in-law; and many other relatives from Warren's family. Anne also leaves one niece, Susan (Jeremy) Bruno of Granville, Ohio; and two nephews: W. James McCauley of Oakland, California, and Steven McCauley of Keuka Lake. A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. on Sunday, September 15, at Christ Episcopal Church, 33 East First Street, Corning. Following the service, the congregation is invited to join the family in the Parish House for refreshments and remembrances. A private burial will take place in Goodsell Cemetery in Hornby. Memorial donations may be made in Anne's name to Christ Church, Meals on Wheels, or a charity of your choice. Anne's family has entrusted her care to Haughey Funeral Home Inc.