George N. Price

Portland – GEORGE N. PRICE, 90, died on July 27, 2025, in Portland. He was born on April 27, 1935, the son of Lyle G. (Zuehl) and Marian J. (Andersen) Price in Elgin, IL, where his prairie origins and traits were formed and fed. His only sibling, Joann, predeceased him in 2008.

George attended a rural one-room elementary school, a midwestern tri-community secondary school, Northwestern University, B.A. (1957), and Virginia Theological Seminary which conferred his M. Div. (1960) and Honorary Doctorate of Divinity (1991).  Ordained deacon and priest in the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago he worked successively at Christ Church, Winnetka, IL; St. Thomas Becket of Canterbury, Evanston, IL; St. James Cathedral (Loop chapel) and St. Chrysostom Church, both Chicago, IL.  There his parish ministry in 1968 intersected directly with violent civil disturbance, the Democratic National Convention, and the Chicago 7 and the Medical Committee for Human Rights — all reported by The New York Times (8/29/68).  In 1962 George had married his beloved Harriet Farr Hemenway, a Vermonter.  They and their children, born 1967 and 1968 in Chicago, lived two blocks from Lincoln Park — the site of the demonstrations.

Early in George’s ministry the then Episcopal bishop of Chicago had encouraged him to consider moving to work in another of the city churches, emphasizing “you will love the people there.” George replied to the bishop, “I can love the people anywhere.” So it was in 1969 when he declined the call to Trinity Church, Wall Street, NY and accepted the call of the mission and parish of St. Andrew (Seal Cove) and St. John Church, Southwest Harbor, Maine.  It was there on Mt. Desert Island that George had a long-term pastorate of twenty-seven years.

The Diocese of Maine had a new progressive Episcopal bishop. It was an era of change:  Ecumenism, cleric collegiality, lay ministry, Vietnam war protests, peace vigils, rice and tea suppers, open-door church policy, Head Start, Saturday School, Drugs education in youth group, Ordination of women, Prayer Book Revision, Inclusive language, Liturgical Mime, Arcady Music, Maine Indian Land Claims, Ministry of Healing, Transfiguration Day climbing of Flying Mountain, Seminary Interns, Companion Dioceses of Maine & Liberia, Summer Festival of the Arts, Tea House Trio, Food Pantry, Endowment Auctions, Baked Bean & Fish Chowder Public Suppers, property improvement, Sabbatical, landscaping and gardening.  All the while for the common good, Main Street and pastoral care were routine.  George thrived in this coastal haven fulfilling the parish mission statement “to worship God and help people.”

In the wider world George had been a 1958 Winant Volunteer in Stepney E1 London with a cadre of Anglican Franciscans. Orientation on the island of Iona, Scotland proved to be a positive life-long changing experience. In Maine his primary outreach activity was Community Health and Counseling Services which he helped to lead as president and in sustaining roles in Bangor and the four adjoining counties. He frequently returned for learning and inspiration at Virginia Theological Seminary, Alexandria, VA where he served as a Trustee of the Board of Directors and which awarded George an honorary doctorate for his pastoral ministry. In his retirement George resolved to sustain a quiescent ministry. He and Harriet moved to Portland, ME in 1997, welcoming new opportunities, friendships, family, grandchildren, and evermore a garden.

George is survived by his wife, Harriet, their two children, Nathan H. Price and Katrina A. (Price) Ojakaar, their spouses and children, his niece, Lori Matthews and her children.

To view George’s memorial page, please visit www.ConroyTullyWalker.com.

The Funeral Service will be held at 3pm, on Friday, August 8, 2025, at St. Luke’s Cathedral, 143 State St. Portland. — All Welcome.