Charles Herman Price was born to Harvey and Naomi Price at home, in Opelika, Alabama. Dr. Sanford was the attending physician. Charles was their third and last born child and the youngest of 3 boys. His family lived in the mill village there and his parents both worked at the cotton mill in Opelika then.
His mother said he was a good child. She said he never did give her any trouble. She and Charles were so close. She said "Charles was named after a preacher and a doctor. Charlie was his grandfather's name and his Aunt Maude gave him his middle name, Herman, after a doctor that she liked". His parents are both living today, as are his brothers, Paul and Jack Price.
Charles, as he was called by his family, went all the way through school in one school building. It was Auburn High School then, but now that same school houses (along with other buildings which have been added) only two grades, 7th and 8th. It's now called Auburn Junior High School and it's on Samford Avenue in Auburn, Alabama.
After graduation, he attended Auburn University. There he was involved in the wrestling program. Being small, but strong, he was sought after by the coaches of the wrestling teams. He studied agriculture there. He was later to say that he should have studied business instead. After almost two years of college, he felt the pull of travel and joined the United States Air Force. He had been in ROTC for a while, and he entered the Air Force on the exact same day as Elvis Presley joined the Army.
While he was in the Air Force, his longest tour of duty was at Mount Charleston, Nevada. He was a Radar Operator (Crew Chief) at Angel's Peak Radar Station. He was there for three years. His parents travelled there to see him once, a very long trip by car.
Nearby Las Vegas became a place of fun and many interesting things happened there. Charlie (by this time he was called that by his friends) made many friends there, some who would be lifetime friends. One of these friends was Bill Lutton, (now deceased).
This radar site overlooked the Nevada Test Site. While Charlie was there, he witnessed "Hardtack II" which was an air to ground missile test of an atomic bomb, or a nuclear weapon. He saw the mushroom from his station atop Mount Charleston. At that time it wasn't known that the effects of this could be harmful. Other (many) underground tests were also done then. No one was supposed to stay at that place for more than 18 months, but he stayed three years.
He also served later at Goose Bay, Labrador, and in Newfoundland. He told interesting stories about the cold and the snow which would be up over their doors sometimes.
After being extended for a year by John F. Kennedy (then President of the United States) he was released after only 6 months of the extension to come home.
His first job after that was with Martin Theaters. He became a manager of theaters, and after a brief stay at Roanoke, Alabama, he was sent to Cuthbert, Georgia to manage the Gem Theatre in August of 1962. It was there that he met his future bride, Cecilia Pittman. She was in her second year of college there at Andrew College, majoring in music (voice).
Charlie and Cecilia married in Cuthbert at the Methodist Church on June 9, 1963. It was a beautiful wedding with both families in attendance. They went to Florida to honeymoon, and then took up residence in Albertville, Alabama where Charlie was the manager of the Shadyside Drive-in Movie Theatre. While living there, they had their first child, Charles Wayne Price, fondly called "Chuckie" on March 24, 1964.
They lived in Albany, Georgia for a time, and then moved to Auburn, Alabama. Charlie and Cecilia were to live in or near Auburn for the rest of their marriage. While living there, they added to their family. Kendall Alan Price was born on January 3, 1967. And then finally, they brought a daughter into the world. Robin Naomi Price made her appearance on March 19, 1975.
During their years there, Charlie managed a grocery store for a short time, then worked for ten years as an insurance agent for Liberty National Life Insurance. While he was there he earned many awards and completed many insurance courses, earning degrees for each. He also has worked as a policeman, a dispatcher at Auburn University Police Department, and managed a large service station in Auburn. That was his last job.
Charles Herman Price died on September 26, 1994, after a year of illness. He had cancer. We will always miss him.