Patrick Hilary Price
(1928 - 2012)

"This is the memorial I set up for Patrick Price. To sign the guest book, click on the "Sign Guest Book" button below. "

"Words cannot express the depth of emotion that come with the passing of such am amazing soul. So many stories too many to tell. But I can say, the one thing that Pat always regarded as his greatest accomplishment, given everything he has done, sailing, banking travel... are his four amazing children. each now, take a part of him with them they all, in some way mirror his life and you don't have to look hard to see it, in their eyes, mannerisms or hearts. truly amazing!

Finally, one of his favorite poems, one we have shared together many times.


"I Must Go Down to the Sea"

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea’s face and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trip’s over.


Sleep well, my Dear Friend.

"

"I have always been so very proud of my uncle Pat. He was a great believer in all of us, and a warm and charming guy who said what he thought, and thought the best of us. He was my friend as well as my relative, and I have always looked up to him. I shall miss him greatly, and carry his confidence and strength with me always. Uncle Pat, you're as good as they come.

Love Forever,

Your Nephew Dave"

"He was always my favorite Uncle. I have many fond memories of when I lived in Mill Valley with he and Aunt Jean and my four cousins. My very first job was at the San Francisco Federal Savings and Loan Bank as a file clerk, thanks to Uncle Pat. I remember our trips into the city and back to Mill Valley after work. I remember sailing with him in San Francisco Bay and the sound of the fog horns. In later years, I did not get to see him as much as I would have liked, but whenever I did it was always such a lovely pleasure. He will never be forgotten.
Leslie

I only got to be around Uncle Pat a handful of times in my life but his presence was special. I remember him having very sweet eyes and he was so fun to be around. I knew he was my mom's favorite Uncle and it was easy for me to see what a wonderful man he was.
Olivia "

"From my earliest memories, Pat was not only my big brother, but also my best friend. I recall that we were often hand in hand as we went about discovering the world. He was my primary advisor on most things, a veritable cornucopia of information about almost any subject---” girls are softer than we are” he told me even before I could give a damn about girls other than that they should be avoided.

Since we were so close in age (13.5 months) we were only one class apart through the school years. He was more outgoing than I was, made friends easier, but I was often included in his circle of friends by his invitation. In high school we often double dated, maybe because we shared in the ownership of a car and neither was willing to relinquish use of it on Saturday nights. One such Saturday evening before leaving home, Pat “repaired” a mysterious loss of oil in our 1929 Model A Ford by placing a large cork in the oil filler tube normally covered by an “Air Breather Cap” thinking that the oil loss had been splashing out as the engine ran. Big mistake!! The cork stopped necessary air circulation, creating pressure and forcing oil out through the main bearings until the engine overheated and stopped dead due to lack of lubrication. We walked home.

Pat joined the Navy for two years right out of high school while I went off to the U of Oregon and was a year ahead of him when he returned. We were fraternity brothers in Phi Kappa Sigma and at one time he was Chapter President while I was House Manager. He left the University while I was in the Air Force and settled in San Francisco working in mortgage lending. After my USAF tour and graduation from the
U of O I followed him to SF where, through his association, I met my wife, Joan. I tried the lending business, but couldn’t stand city life so broke away from my close association with Pat for the last time to return to the NW and a new career path.

We continued to get together every year or two after that--he was responsible for my becoming a sailor and we sailed together along hundreds of miles of the North American Pacific coast and even among the Caribbean Islands. He was a competent cruising sailor and I learned a lot from him.

So that’s it for now--I will, no doubt think of interesting stories that can be added later.
Did you know that he was not known as Pat during his childhood, but answered to “Putt?‘ With Fond Memories, Uncle (brother) Dave"

"Our sympathy to the entire Price family. I know Hilary loved him dearly. I am so glad she got to be close to him in his final months. I had the pleasure of meeting him in Seattle. He seemed like a genuine gentle giant. May he rest in peace. Amen.
"

"Uncle Pat always had open arms and a compassionate heart, and he could care less what people thought of him! One year, when our daughter was a baby, we were in San Francisco and he invited us to stay with him overnight but first he told us to come by his office in the bank skyscraper. Fresh off the plane, with suitcases and baby supplies in tow, we went up the elevator many floors and when the doors opened we spilled out into a luxurious big reception area. We were getting strange hesitant looks and the place went quiet... then when he came out to greet us everything changed! While everyone immediately went back to their work, he welcomed us with his booming voice and gave us a grand tour and treated us like VIP's. That night he stayed up talking with us until the wee hours. This was typical of him, he was so accommodating. He always had a presence, a comfortable genuine presence. I absoutley loved being around him to hear his opinions and his perspective. He was multi-talented, funny, modern, and intelligent, but he still took the time to pay attention to life's simple pleasures. The various things he taught me will stay in my heart forever, he was a blessing to us all."

"Many descriptors come to mind when I think of my Uncle Pat, but the one that seems to rise to the top is generous. Whether he was buying you a meal, lending you his sailboat for your honeymoon on the bay, or sharing his home, he gave with gusto and full pleasure. He had the gift of putting at ease, those he was entertaining. Broadening the horizons of others seemed to give him great joy.
All one has to do is to walk up the stairs in his house in PG to witness the evidence of a life well lived.
Cheers!
"

"Unc"

"There are so many memories, going back to my childhood. I knew him before he had his own family and he was one of my many uncles (I always felt fortunate as a child to have so many fun uncles).

When I think back over the years, I realize how many “firsts” I had with him. When I was very small, my parents, my older brother Frank, and I went to visit him in San Francisco. He lived in an apartment building (my first apartment building), and he had take-out Chinese food for dinner. It was my first Chinese food and I thought it was terrible and began to cry, embarrassing my parents no end, but it didn’t faze Uncle Pat, he just found me something else to eat. Now I love Chinese food.

Later he introduced me to wine, and again, I thought it was terrible, yuck! Well, that didn’t last long.

And, as with so many of the rest of the family, he took me on my first sailing trip. It was a little scary (big bay, small boat) but completely wonderful.

His generosity is, of course, legendary. But I felt especially blessed to be allowed to accompany him on so many sailing adventures. The three trips I took with him added so much to my life and I have many great memories. I can’t begin to share them all, but one involves being anchored in a small cove off one of the Virgin Islands, sitting out in the cockpit with the skipper on a warm evening with drink in hand, watching an amazing sunset and listening to Dave Brubeck play softly in the background. I think that is what heaven must be like.

Another memory is sailing with Uncle Pat, cousin Terri, and the two dogs in British Columbia. One time the skipper and Terri took the dogs ashore in the dinghy while I stayed on the Blue Point. I watched the dogs cavort on the beach while Uncle Pat and Terri walked along, exploring the shore. Soon they all jumped back in the dinghy and as soon as they left the beach and headed towards the boat, out of the forest came two bear cubs and their mother, right where they had been. I am sure mama bear had a hard time holding back those cubs while there was so much interesting activity going on right in front of them.

When I joined him in Mexico, I was touched to find that he had enrolled in a Spanish language class. At his age and place in life, to still feel the need to be one with the people he was living among was just great. He never felt he was “above” anyone. He was an amazing human being who enriched many lives.

Mary"

"I remember the day that Unc took me sailing for the first time like it was yesterday. I called him Unc because he asked me to stop calling him Uncle Pat. He said that it made him feel old. He told me that I could call him Pat or Unc or something else but not to call him Uncle Pat anymore. I chose to call him Unc, I kinda like it.

It was a typical mid summers day in San Fransisco, blowing cats off roofs when we left smelly seal marina in the city. Unc positioned me in the center of the cockpit out of harms way. It was also a great vantage point for me to see all that was about to happen. After motoring into safe water he stuck her nose up into the wind and proceeced to hoist the main sail and jib. When these sails were secured Unc brought the bow down and we were off. Then, something happened that I felt uncomfortable with. As we started to accelerate the boat started tipping over. The faster we went the more we tipped over and over and over. I was convinced that we would wind up, up side down and was very concerned until all of a sudden we settled in on a constant heel angle. I was trying to figure out what was keeping us from turning turtle. I looked up at the sails and then back down to the horizon, up to the sails and back down to the horizon at least a half dozen times trying to figure out what was keeping us at this angle. I turned around and to face aft to look at Unc and saw the most beautifull smile on his face a top that broad, bear, furry chest ( twernt warm either). I was not smiling and asked him what was keeping us from turning all the way over and his smile turned to laughter as he said," the keel Jeffer, the keel". I had no idea what a keel was but I knew that he knew what he was talking about. After hearing him say that I was able to relax and joined him in a smile. What a fantastic experience. I now know that his smile was half because of my expression and half because he had introduced me to one of his true passions. After he dropped the sails and we tied the boat up in the smelly seal marina he stopped by the boat yard on the way back to Mill Valley. He showed me what a sail boat looked like out of the water and what was keeping us from disaster. Up until that time I thought that all boats had flat bottoms.

I was ten years old and Unc was forty-one. I had not realized it at the time but he planted a seed in my soul that later in my life started to grow and is to this day is growing inside me. All it needs is a little salt water now and then. He introduced me to sailing and is responsible for making it possible for me to make a living at what I love to do. I am truly a member of the lucky club because of my wonderful Uncle Pat. What more could I ask for. What I want is to see him again but I can't ask for that. I will settle for being able to carry his light with me whever I go for the rest of my life. I will let him discover new oceans to sail so he can show me them when I am ready.

When I close my eyes I see a wall. This wall is my heros wall where I keep a picture of my heros. I have only a few heros and Unc is one of them. He is the middle portrait that is of the largest size.

R.I.P. Patrick Hilary Price, my eternal salt water blood brother. You will be dearly missed.
Jeff

"

"Our condolences to the entire Price family on the passing of your father. There must have been an urgent meeting of the SF Fed old guard that required both our dads to leave us so quickly. Prayers and Blessings to your entire family. "

"Pat will always be remembered as a person who did everything with style and grace. Together with my wife, we found ourselves one sponsor short for the St. Francis YC, and although I hadn't seen Pat for years, we reached out to him and he very graciously offered to sponsor us. We had a memorable lunch in Monterey and were hoping to meet with him the next time he came up to San Francisco.
Pat's door was always open at San Francisco Federal and he was very influential to me in my 20s and 30s. He will be missed by all. Joe and Terri Torrano."

"SFFed old guard - indeed! I worked for 30+ years w/ both Patrick & Roger. Sailed for years w/ Pat(Hilarius, Gypsy and Spindrift) and although many stories one stands out - we were out gate on Gypsy just before Potato Patch when all the rigging collapsed (she was still rigged for So. Ca.!) and Coast Guard came out in helicoptor while other sailboats circled - until we could retrieve and secure the rigging and limp back to Sausalito - a friend had heard the whole incident over radio and he said he knew it was Pat! I am profoundly sad I will never sail w/ Pat again or be able to tell him I learned to love opera!"

"Pat, It was so amazing to have you come back into my life after 60 years away from the U of O. We both turned into OLD GEEZERS but think we retained that zest for living that we had in school I shall miss your visits and our trips togehter. I know where you there are blue waves, lots of Rum, Ginger Beer and Limes. Probably some ice-cream also. You will be missed.
Fondly
Shavy"

"Our condolences to the Price family. I was lucky to be in the SFFED family for over 22 years, and Ken for over 10 years. Pat could not do enough for his friends and co-workers. I will always remember the good times, the sailing, the parties, and best of all the good talks. The "old guard" is together now. Pat will be dearly missed by many. My heart goes out to my friend Bryan. We will keep the Price family in our thoughts and prayers.
Edie and Ken Kendall"

"As a hi school kid I worked at SF Fed on Kearney st. Pat was my boss in the late 1950s . He was head teller then. He was really one of the best people I knew.I would put him in the top 10 of people I have ever met. Just an all around easy to like person...... "

"Julie, Hillary, Cindy and Bryan,
I remember meeting your Dad for the first time while visiting Bryan after the 1988 baseball season. What a guy! He took Bryan and I to Chinatown for lunch and it was my first experience with Dim Sum. And what an experience it was, as I am not sure we could have fit more bowls of food on the table! Quite memorable, and telling of one of the most generous and engaging men I had the honor of meeting. I am quite certain that he is up in heaven telling stories about sailing, etc, as well as bragging about his four incredible children. Please accept my sincerest condolences for the loss of your Dad.

Matt West "

"For over 25 years I enjoyed a career in consulting as a facilitator of strategic thinking and planning for many entities. How did it all start: Pat asked me to be part of a San Francisco Federal Strategic Retreat. My response was, "I don't have a clue as to what you want." His response, "You can do this!" Given him being able to know what I could do better than myself is something for which I will be forever grateful. He introduced me to his son Bryan because he said that we had a something in common - a love of baseball. Now I travel to Cincinnati in two weeks to pull for one of the great pitching coaches of all time. Pat was everything and more than the description provided on this website. I am so happy that in the last two years I chased him down via email with Bryan's help which gave us a chance to catch up with each other. My hope was a visit to California would give me a chance to see him; now I have to wait until I hopefully end up where he surely is."

"We are getting ready to leave for a boating excursion in the Bordeaux region of France, but we will be absent our dear friend, Pat, who talked about joining us just before he went into the hospital. We were, in fact, waiting for him to get an OK from his doctors (although at one point he said he "just might join us anyway." He may not be joining us physically now, but his spirit will be with us.

We cherish the times we spent boating together...San Francisco, Maine, Chesapeake Bay, Mexico, and our last time together... on a river barge through the countryside of England.

When we got together, lots of stories were told (and retold); lots of "dark and stormies" consumed, lots of business highlights and tragedies remembered...many times with the dogs vying for our laps or fetching sticks.

So, we will raise our glasses to his memory and thank him for all our memories. Nancy & Bob

"

"Hello,

I didn't get to know the entire Price family but from judging from being around Julie and Carm, I believe Patrick started and raised an amazing family that will continue for a very long time. I met Julie and Carmen in 2002 and that friendship and love continues to this day. I wish and hope that I can meet everybody soon and share stories about Patrick. This happened a while ago but I will keep the Price family in my thoughts and prayers."

"Don Beals, one of your Grants Pass high school classmates stopped by. He told me that you were in 4H summer school and high school band together. He also told me that when you got a note wrong in band practice the teacher would hit you with a ruler. I think that explains why you were so impassioned to get every note correct when playing the piano. And after losing touch for 40 years, you bumped into him in Pacific Grove and were friends ever since. He is doing great for being 81 years old; they built them differently in Oregon didn't they!

Your friend Don Beals, Veteran of USS Vega AF 59, paid his respects."

"Pat always loved cars, but he was not always good to them. During WWII the family car was a 1937 half ton Chevy pickup. He "totaled" it--twice! Once on a dark rainy night against the side of a huge black workhorse at probably 60 mph (no injuries- I was passenger). Again(same place) went to sleep coming home late at night-- into a drainage ditch,rolled upside down hit a big rock--flipped end over end and stopped on wheels facing backwards! (Jerry and I as passengers-- no seat belts, no serious injuries) But I guess he got it over with as I know of no other accidents.
Brother Dave"

"So sad to see that Pat has passed, but really enjoyed seeing all of the pictures of the family. I wouldn't have recognized Cindy, Bryan or Julie, but I couldn't miss Jean and Hilary's wonderful smiles!

I remember sailing on the SF Bay with Pat and Hilary (among others) on Opening Day in 1974 or 1975 - what a crazy and fun time that was (& I still have the picture to prove it)!

Fair winds and following seas to you, Pat...
"