Reverend Price

Wilson

Psalm 31:23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord;and he delighted in his way.

Price Wilson, a man blessed and highly favored by God, a man whom God placed, shaped, and molded. Price, the third child of Reverend Oliver Wilson and Evangelist Mae Nona Conoly Wilson was born in the Orange Hill Community of Washington County, Florida. His boyhood was spent picking cotton, plowing fields, and selling GRIT newspapers. Price was a rascal, his brothers and sisters say, teasing and pestering his older sister Anna Mae as she and her boyfriend tried to court. Wilson himself often told how his mother turned him over to God when he was twelve years old because she was tired of having to chasten him. That twelfth year was life changing. Price confessed Jesus Christ as his Savior and joined Orange Hill Baptist Church under the pastorate of Reverend G. F. Young.

Price's early school years began at Orange Hill Elementary. He then attended Roulhac High School in Chipley, Florida. Tall, handsome, and quite the talker, the eleventh grader was drafted into the United States Army at the height of World War II; he served three and a half years. His tour of duty included France, England, Belgium, Holland, and Luxembourg. In 1946 Staff Sergeant and Medic, Price Wilson was honorably discharged and awarded a combat medal.

Price came home from the war with a clearer sense of what he wanted for himself. He decided to finish high school. A pretty and feisty senior girl, Kathryn Carolyn Campbell, caught Price's eye. After graduation they married in the summer of 1947. Determined to make a good life for themselves, they headed for Florida A&M College in Tallahassee.

A life path chosen, a wife, a baby born in 1948, college, and two jobs would have proved overwhelming for all but the most resolute of men—which Wilson was. College degree in hand, Price and his family returned home to Chipley. However, it would not be easy, even for a black man with a college education, to provide for a family given the times and low wages. Securing a job as a principal and teacher in the neighboring town of Caryville, Price realized he needed to supplement his paltry teacher's salary. Ever one to size up a situation and deal with it through prayer and action , Price put to use a skill he learned at fourteen—cutting hair. He opened Wilson's Barbershop in 1951. The legacy of Wilson's Barbershop continues today through his elder son Price Hugh and through ownership of the shop.

Price remained principal-teacher at St. Mary Elementary in Caryville until 1968 when a court order to integrate the schools brought him to Chipley High School as a science teacher, then as an adult education teacher at Washington-Holmes Vocational Center. His last appointment was Assistant Principal at Chipley High. Thanking God for a career of thirty-six years, the highly respected educator retired from the school system in 1987.

There was no doubt or debate about life after retirement. Called into the ministry in 1971 and ordained in 1973 at Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church, it wasn't long before this "sold-out to Jesus" clergyman was in demand as a preacher and called to a church to pastor. The groundwork was well laid — his years of service at Jerusalem as a deacon, choir member, and church treasurer taught him the ins and outs of church administration. Reverend Wilson has served as Under-Shepard at Macedonia Baptist Church (Argyle, FL), St. John Missionary Baptist Church (Marianna, FL), New Easter Baptist Church (Graceville, FL), and at Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church (Chipley, FL) for thirty-seven years.

Reverend Wilson served his community in various religious, civic, and social organizations. District Congress 2nd West Baptist Association (President, Junior Women), Progressive Missionary and Educational Baptist State Convention of Florida, Inc. (Financial Secretary), Bethel Lodge 524 (past Worshipful Master), Sons and Daughters of Levites (President), Kiwanis Club (Chairman of Spiritual Aims), Board of Trustees Chipola Junior College, and Advisory Council Washington-Holmes Vocational Center. In October 1989, Reverend Wilson was elected to the Chipley City Council Ward 3, the first black man to serve in city government. His service ended in September 2011 when he chose to forgo a run for re-election.

Grateful for his professional and community accomplishments, more important to him was his family. Married to "Kat", as he affectionately called her, for forty-six years until her death in 1994, he is the father of six children: Alice Loretta (Ira Harmon MD), Jacksonville, FL; Price Hugh (Ramona), Pensacola, FL; Kathy Gail, Tallahassee, FL; Marian Lanan (Thomas Lewis), Canton, GA; Carol Lynn (Ronnie Williams), Tampa FL; and Kelvin Patrick (Candice), Tallahassee, FL. Price gave God the praise that he and Kathryn saw all six children graduate with college degrees. His legacy inclues seventeen grandchildren: Lori, Carolyn, Kendra, Baxter, Janice, Angela, Rachic, Price III, Patrick Gilead, Zenovia, Jamaal, Tevin, Ronnie, Jr., Rashaad, Keira, Alana and Layla; two great grands: Jordan Patrick and Deja.

On January 10, 2003 Reverend Price Wilson married Fannie Boston Reed, another life-long Chipley citizen. To this family were joined her three sons: Shaun, Gwuan (Selina) and Christopher (Yamina), with two granddaughters, Sarah Lena and Chandler, and three grandsons, De'Quan, Mathias and Noah.

Reverend Wilson was preceded in death by his parents and siblings: Cora Wilson, Anna Mae Sheffield, Charles Wilson, Reverend Willie Chester Wilson, James Calvin (J.C.) Wilson, Oliver Wilson, Jr., and Washington Irving Wilson.

Devoted and loving brothers and sister left to cherish his memory are Reverend Woodrow (Dorothy Rose), Jonathan (Jewel) of Panama City, FL, and Gladys Wright (Clarence) of Lawrenceville, GA.

A host of sisters and brothers-in-law, nieces, nephews, cousins, and life long friends are part of the blessing of family. The family is blessed to have the Reverend Price Wilson in its lineage.

Matthew 25:21 His Lord said unto him, "Well done thy good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord".

The Home Going Celebration will be held 11 A.M. CST, Saturday, December 13, 2014 from the sanctuary of the Second West Baptist Association Church of Marianna, Florida with Rev. Dr. Bartholomew Banks and Rev. Riley Henderson, officiating. Committal Services will follow in the Orange Hill Cemetery of Chipley, Florida, with Military and Masonic Rites.

The family will recieve freinds from 6 to 9 P.M., Friday, December 12th, 2014 at the Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church of Chipley, Florida.