EASTOVER — A daughter described her father’s life about as well as anyone could on this day of farewell.
“If you are good to your community,” Kim Price Fisher remembered her father’s words of long ago, “your community will be good to you.”
Don Price believed it.
Don Price lived it.
Don Price never wavered in the Golden Rule, which followed him throughout his 22 years as owner of the LaFayette Ford dealership along Raeford Road and his civic pride from Eastover to Fayetteville to Fort Bragg.
“He was one of Fayetteville’s most trusted businessmen,” Kim Fisher reminded those who on Saturday filled Salem Methodist Church in every pew. “And over time, he came to know people in this community.”
Don Price had a welcoming way. He had a smile for everyone and a heart with no boundaries when others faced those troubling waters in life.
“He was devoted to his church and the community,” Eastover Mayor Charles McLaurin said Monday. “Anytime something was going on in this community, he and his wife, Karen, were there. He became a vital part of this community, and he will be missed.”
From the Eastover Civic Club, the Fayetteville Kiwanis Club, Methodist University, the Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base Special Activities Committee and a past chairman of the Fayetteville Greater Chamber Military Affairs Council, Don Price was there.
He had a special affinity for supporting the young soldiers on Fort Bragg, and military veterans who called Cumberland County home.
“Dad would pick up tabs for young soldiers when he saw them out for dinner,” Kim Fisher said. “He funded trips for veterans to see the World War II Memorial” in Washington, D.C.
For Don Price, from buck privates to retired military veterans, every one of them mattered.
“Don Price is probably the finest individual I have ever had the privilege to know,” said Tommy Bolton of Pinehurst, who is a former civilian aide to the Army for North Carolina. “I have been honored to be called his friend for nearly 50 years. He lived a wonderful life with a great degree of honor and integrity … always trying to make things a bit better. Truly a giant among men. He has certainly given us all a fine example from which we could learn how goodness will prevail, and a righteous life can easily produce that goodness.”
‘I thought the world of him’
Don Price grew up the son of a West Virginia coal miner and found his way to Fayetteville in 1965 after serving in the U.S. Air Force at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro.
“We met in Goldsboro,” said Jerry Wade, also in the Air Force. “I had served in Turkey. He had served in Pakistan.”
Wade urged his Air Force buddy to come to Fayetteville, where both would join LaFayette Ford when it was located downtown along Robeson Street across from the old Alexander Graham Junior High School. They would become part of the late George Purvis Sr.’s dealership.
“I said, ‘If you come, I will help you find a place to live and help find you a job,’” Wade, 84, said. “My family will be your family, and that’s what we did. He and I never had a cross word between us. We raised our children together. We vacationed together. We were close and had a great time together. I thought the world of him.”
The dealership had an arsenal of young salesmen to include Julius McLaurin, George Girdwood, Wade and Price, and later Johnny Patterson and Larry Wagner to work alongside veteran salesmen such as H.H. Clemmons and Murphy Hall, and they moved Ford models from the Mustang, the Fairlane, the Falcon, the Thunderbird and the Galaxie 500s and the LTDs. Sales were buoyed as the dealership sponsored the late Fred Lorenzen in the No. 28 Ford Galaxie on the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing circuit, including Lorenzen’s victory in the 1965 Daytona 500.
Management wondered if Don Price could sell a car or a truck.
“He proved ‘em wrong,” Wade said. “He was the best salesman, leader and boss.”
Don Price could sell a Ford product.
“He became one of the top salesmen,” Kim Fisher said. “Dad worked long hours. He was able to buy the company in 1995.”
A pall over the dealership
Today, the dealership is situated on 29 acres, with 130 full-time employees as testament to Don Price’s leadership from 1995 until his retirement in 2017, when he turned over the dealership to son Tim Price and son-in-law Mark Fisher. On Saturday, two wreaths paid homage to Don Price, who never tired of the aroma of a new vehicle on the sales lots or marveling at new cars, vans and trucks or telling folks about the 1940 Ford Custom Convertible on the showroom floor.
Donny “Don” Kay Price died Sept. 10 at his Eastover home.
He was 82.
Diagnosed with dementia in 2011, the disease progressed slowly until recent years.
“Our Mom was always by his side,” Kim Fisher said.
She would remember her father’s passion for the automobile business.
“But what he was most proud of was our family,” she said.
He looked forward to spending time at Cherry Grove, S.C., watching a sunset or building sandcastles with his grandchildren. He enjoyed pig-pickings and visiting with his brother and sisters and their families.
“Don knew the blessings of God,” the Rev. Gil Wise said. “The riches of God, and family. Don called Jesus’ name many times, and Jesus was there. He has won his race, and Don is present with the Lord.”
Epilogue
Don Price was just one of those good men who passed our way. If he saw someone in need of a helping hand, the reach never was too far for Don Price.
“Let’s live by his values and being kind and generous,” Kim Fisher said it well about her father, “so his legacy will live on.”
From Eastover to Fayetteville to our neighboring Fort Bragg, those who came to know Don Price know the good man they came to call a friend. And, if you ever met Don Price along your way, you would say so, too.
Bill Kirby Jr. can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-1961.
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