Cathy Price was the spouse of Rev. John Price.
Cathy (or Hopie to her family) was born October 8, 1941 to Hazel and Russell Wichael in Mount Solen, Virginia. She was the middle button of five sisters: Janet, Nancy, Cathy, Junel, and Dawn. All are deceased except Nancy.
Cathy graduated from Buffalo Gap High School at 17, since there were only 11 grades, and moved to Richmond where she worked in the library and for the ABC Board. She moved to Newport News in 1963 and married Will Kilgore, becoming the mother of Bill and Susan. Cathy and Will had a son, Russell, in 1971. Cathy went to work at Riverside Hospital where she worked for 27 years in Accounts Receivable. After they were divorced in 1976, Bill went to live with his grandparents and Susan and Rusty remained with Cathy.
Cathy met John Price at First United Methodist Church in Newport News in 1982 when he came as the Associate Pastor. They were married March 5, 1983 in that church. John adopted Rusty a year later. Then they moved to East Hampton UMC where John was Pastor for six years. Rusty graduated from Phoebus High School in 1990 and enrolled in Virginia Wesleyan College. John and Cathy moved that year to Kenwood UMC in Dinwiddie County near Petersburg where John pastored for ten years. Cathy worked several places including Virginia State University but settled at the School of Nursing in Petersburg.
Cathy and John became the proud grandparents of Kaitlyn Elizabeth Bennett born to Rusty and Rachael Bennett in 1990. Kaitlyn says, “My grandma was a true firecracker. She had an infectious laugh, made the best spaghetti, and was never afraid to speak her mind. She brought so much personality, love, and laughter into my life, and I will cherish those memories forever.”
Cathy and John moved back to Hampton in 2000 to Bethany UMC. Cathy then went back to work for Riverside at the behavioral center in Hampton in Medical Records where she worked until she was 76 years old. In 2004 John was appointed as Pastor to Scott Memorial UMC in Virginia Beach. Cathy loved living in Virginia Beach and didn’t mind the commute back and forth to Hampton. However, after she had had several small auto accidents, John decided they needed to buy a home for retirement on the Peninsula. They found a beautiful house just West of Hilton in Newport News which they purchased in 2008. With this house they were able to take away her long commute by living in Newport News during the work week and in Virginia Beach on the weekends.
John retired at 63 and they enjoyed attending First UMC in Newport News again. Their Son, Rusty, finally got married to Jenny Owen who has two children, John and Addy. Cathy tried to be the best mother-in-law and a good grandma to John and Addy. Rusty suddenly died of heart failure in 2016 at the age of 45. Cathy held up well with that great loss even with Rusty being the pride of her life.
After retiring Cathy was diagnosed with Parkinson’s when she was 80. She fought a good fight, only missing church a couple times. She never wanted to be in a nursing home and was able to stay at home. Cathy had two outstanding aids, Patricia Viot and Denise Strader. A number of volunteers also helped her from time to time. We thank them for all their help.
Cathy died around 11:00 p.m. on September 30, eight days before her 85th birthday. Parklawn Wood Funeral Home is handling her remains and she will be buried at Peninsula Memorial Park beside Rusty. Her memorial service will be at First United Methodist Church in Newport News on October 17 at 1:00 p.m. The Reverend John W. Cole II will preside.
(Source: https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/hampton-va/catherine-price-13060178)