John Joseph Price

John (Jack) Joseph Price passed away peacefully on Tuesday, November 17, 2020 at home with Theresa, his loving wife of 65 years, and family by his side.

Jack Price was born on a Thursday, on July 26, 1924 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Samuel J. and Dorothy M. (Daubert) Price.

Jack’s early life was shaped by the Great Depression and congenital hearing loss that wasn’t diagnosed until after his military service. Jack often attributed food uncertainty as his motivation for developing cooking skills. The planning and discipline of food preparation appealed to Jack’s innate sense of order and control. Throughout life his interest in food continued, whether home cooking, taking pleasure in dining or in critiquing the limitations of institutional kitchens. Even volunteering took place in the kitchen, where he could create a spreadsheet for a recipe in order to expand into meals for over a hundred people.

Jack was interested in how things work and was an early adopter of technology. He taught himself photography and lighting as a young man, experimenting with darkroom techniques. His early photos often featured his sisters or mother as models.

Shortly after high school graduation he was drafted into military service. He was a member of the 70th infantry division (the Trailbazer Division), a unit of the US Army in World War II, in the European Theatre of operations (spearheading the Seventh US Army’s drive into Germany). Upon discharge he attended University of Miami Florida on the GI bill, earning a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in 1950, and joining Levitt & Sons homebuilders.

He was an avid bowler in those days and met Theresa Lazarick through the league. Their first date was the annual league dinner. They married on a bright cold day, January 8, 1955.  With the purchase of his first house, a ranch in Levittown, Jack became a gardener. He landscaped his home with flowering trees and blooming foundation plantings. He hardscaped a stone patio in back of the house. Their five children were born there between 1956 and 1965.

With a company move to Long Island in 1965, they left their extended family around Philadelphia to resettle in Stony Brook New York and a new phase of life. There was large yard to landscape; the children thrived in a large neighborhood booming with families.

In the 70s he took on a new role as a senior partner engineer at Henderson & Bodwell Consulting (a spin off from Levitt). Moving deftly from slide rule to computing, Jack took a proprietary interest and pride in the company’s mainframe computer, which gave them a leading edge in their industry. He mentored young engineers while he worked on national and international projects. But weekends were for family. For many years relaxation took the forms of reading, gardening and cooking. The family made regular trips to see relatives in Philadelphia area, with summers on the shore or on road trip vacations. Then, with the purchase of a 27’ sailboat, Jack and Theresa stepped into the world of sailing on Long Island Sound and the Setauket Yacht Club.

By 1995 Jack and Theresa were ready to downsize and they moved to Ocala, Florida, joining the Marion Landing community. That same year they traveled to Poland (where the Lazarick’s originated). After that, as newly free spirits, they travelled the world and gathered the family for several cruises. Jack began volunteering in earnest at Ocala Regional Hospital and as a chef for parish lunches. Organizing information with spreadsheets became a sort of obsession, as well as a tool. He was an adept money manager, advisor, and investor, and his ability to administer finances within his family gave him a strong sense of purpose up to the very end of his life.

In 2009 Jack and Theresa made one more move, heading back north to Warminster, Pennsylvania, closer to where their extended families sprawled over 4 states. He continued volunteering until health curtailed his activities. He earned the President’s Volunteer Service Award for his work as at Anne’s Choice.

Jack continued to manage his profound hearing loss along with progressing macular generation; he survived several life altering illnesses, always with the support and advocacy of Theresa, and his own determination to regain his usual levels of energy and engagement.

Jack was predeceased by his eldest son, Richard Price (1960-2017) and his brother, Gerald (Jerry) F. Price (1934-2016).

Jack is survived by his devoted wife, Theresa E. Price (Lazarick), his children, Anne (Frank) DeSimone, Barbara Price (David Greenberger), Tom Price (Jeannine), Marguerite (aka Margie), and daughter-in-law, Joanne Newkirk Price. He was proud of his grandchildren, Amy DeSimone (Terry Harris), Robert DeSimone (Corrine); Tom, Heather and Laura DeSimone; Richard Price; and Amanda and Sydney Price. He embraced grandchildren (and their families) by marriage, Norabelle Greenberger, Janine Rossi, Phillip Misevich, Gregory Misevich, and Suzanne Edmundson; and thirteen great grandchildren.

He is survived by 4 siblings, Sam (Estelle) Price, Dorothy Schaffer, Robert (Evelyn) Price, and Sr. Joan Marie Price, and many nieces and nephews.

Jack was also close to members of Theresa’s family, Leonard Lazarick, Sister Dorothy Lazarick, and nieces and nephews, Monsignor John Kenneth Dermond, Richard and Nicole Lazarick, Patricia Wilson, and Carol and Jay Hayes.

A mass of remembrance will be held on January 11, at 11:00 am at Nativity of Our Lord Church, Warminster, PA. Interment will follow at Washington Crossing Veterans Cemetery at 1:00 pm. You can stream his funeral mass live on the funeral home's Facebook page. 

An in-person memorial gathering will be held sometime in the future.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Jack’s memory may be made to the Ann’s Choice Benevolent Fund or a charity of your choice.

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