Raymond Price

*****SERVICES HAVE BEEN UPDATED************

Mr. Raymond Samuel Price, 88, of Braddock Heights, MD passed away Sunday, January 10, 2016 at the Somerford House, Hagerstown, MD. He was the husband of the late Marie Ann Erickson.

Born March 6, 1927 in Pensacola, FL, he was the son of the late Raymond Samuel and Clementine MacArthur Price.

A WWII veteran and second generation Navy man, Ray had already lived in Hawaii, Pensacola, San Diego CA, and Norfolk, VA when he enlisted in the Navy on his 18th birthday. After the war ended, Ray went to Florida State University on the GI bill, graduating in 1950 with a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology. From there, he went on to earn a Master’s in Anthropology from the University of Nebraska, where he met his future wife, Marie Anne Erickson, whom he married in 1956. Ray worked in archaeology for Smithsonian Institution in North and South Dakota, and later served in the museum program of the Nebraska State Historical Society.

In 1957, the couple moved to California, living in the San Francisco and Berkeley area where Ray began his 33-year career with the National Park Service (NPS). In 1967, the NPS brought Ray to Harpers Ferry, WV to open the Harpers Ferry Design Center where he developed outdoor exhibits for the national park system. Ultimately Ray became Chief of Wayside Exhibits, and in that capacity traveled to American Samoa, Guam, England, Alaska, Hawaii, and all 48 contiguous US states. After retiring from the NPS in 1992, Ray opened his own consulting firm and spent nearly two decades helping parks all over the country develop outdoor exhibit programs.

In the late 1990s, he turned his talents to target shooting, participating in IR 50/50 benchrest .22 target rifle competitions. He held multiple national titles and made friendships that would last the rest of his life.

He is survived by daughter Ingrid Price and her husband Davis Hall; daughter Blyth L. McManus and her husband David McManus; and one grandson, Alexander Lewis. Ray was preceded in death by his wife of 55 years, Marie Anne Erickson, in 2011.

The family will receive friends on Saturday, February 27, 2016 from 2-3PM where a memorial service will begin at 3PM.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Ray’s name to causes which were meaningful to him:

The National Park Foundation, the official charity of America’s national parks, raises private funds that directly aid, support, and enrich America’s over 400 national parks and their programs. Chartered by Congress as the charitable partner of the National Park Service. In memoriam gifts may be made here:

The Cup Of Joe For A Joe program makes it easy for anyone, anywhere in the world, to buy a fresh cup of Green Beans Coffee and have it delivered with a personal letter of thanks to a member of the armed services deployed overseas in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Give coffee here: http://www.greenbeanscoffee.com/pages/cup-of-joe

Interment will be private.