Ben S. Price Colonel (Chaplain) United States Army

Ben S. Price, 85, a retired Army Chaplain, died November 14, 2006, at his home in Annandale, Virginia. He had Alzheimer’s disease.

Colonel Price, who served in three wars, was an artillery officer in the Army’s 1st Cavalry Division during World War II in the Asia-Pacific campaign.

After the war, he graduated from what was then East Texas State College and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and in 1961 he earned a master’s degree in business administration from Syracuse University. He was also a 1969 graduate of the Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

He served two tours of duty in the Korean War and one in the Vietnam War as a chaplain. Among his military awards were two awards of the Legion of Merit.

He retired from the Army in 1975. Colonel Price then became a licensed marriage and family therapist and worked as an associate pastor at Cavalry Hill Baptist Church in Bel Air, Maryland, and Manassas Baptist Church in Virginia. From 1986 until he retired in 1999, he was chaplain at what was then the Soldiers’ and Airmen’s Home in Washington.

His first wife, Faye Fletcher Price, died.

Survivors include his wife of 22 years, Margaret G. Devanny-Price of Annandale; two children from his first marriage, Virginia Susan Pluhar of Finksburg, Md., and Dr. Jack Price of Kansas City, Missouri; three stepchildren, Helen Gersmehl of Marietta, Georgia, Earl H. Devanny IV of Dublin, Ohio, and Donna Raymond of Winona, New Jersey; and eight grandchildren.

BEN S. PRICE, Chaplain
COL. USA (Ret.)

On Tuesday, November 14, 2006, at his residence in Annandale, Virignia. Beloved husband of 22 years to Margaret G. Devanny-Price. Surviving are his children by his late wife Faye Fletcher Price, Virginia Susan and her children, Caitlin and Sarah and Dr. Jack Price and his wife Kathy Kessler Price and their children, Jonathan and Lisa.

Also surviving are Margaret’s children, Helen and David Gersmehl, Earl H. Devanny, IV and his wife Dr. Caroline Breitenberger, Donna and Robert Raymond. Grandfather of David Karl Gersmehl and his wife Chancey, Andrew W. Gersmehl,Nicole J. Devanny and William E. Devanny.

During World War II, he served as an Artillery Officer with the First Calvary Division in the Pacific Asian Campaign.

Upon graduating from seminary he served as Pastor in Purcelville and Round Hill, Virginia. He was recalled during the Korean War and served as a Chaplain for the rest of his military career. After retiring from the Army he served as Associate Pastor at both Calvary Hill Baptist Church in Bel Air, Maryland and Manassas Baptist Church in Virginia. In 1984, he became a chaplain at the Soldier’s and Airman’s Home in Washington, DC until retiring in 1999.

Funeral sevices will be held on Wednesday, January 3, at Fort Myer Old Post Chapel, Fort Myer, Virginia at 9 a.m. Friends and family are requested to assemble at the Chapel at 8:30 a.m. Interment with Full Military Honors, Arlington National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Evercare Hospice, 8245 Boone Blvd., Ste. 403, Vienna, VA 22182 or to the American Heart Associaton.

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard