Joseph Stanley Price

Joseph Stanley Price was born on February 16, 1931, in Muskogee, Oklahoma, and died on January 24, 2024, in Beaumont, Texas.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Joseph Beverly Price and Will-Amelia Sterns Price; wife, Virginia Mae Blackburn Price; and brother, Beverly Gregg Price.

Although he was an Okie from Muskogee, Stanley moved to, adopted and called Southeast Texas home in the 1940’s. He graduated from Beaumont High School in 1949, and Lamar Tech in 1954.  He lived briefly in Taos, New Mexico, in the early 1970’s, a place where he told everyone the refrigerator was to keep food from freezing because it was so cold in the winter.

As a perpetual entrepreneur, Stanley founded and ran numerous businesses.  Ranging from the Price Fence Company, Taos Leather Products, Video Mart, Satellite Dealer Supply and Mosquito Boss. His mind was always working to find ways to create and improve business opportunities. “Retirement” took him to China, Texas. There he still could not rest, serving on city counsel posts and establishing Vera Street Farms, fulfilling a lifelong horticulture passion.

“Papa Stan has always inspired me to be passionate about my pursuits in life. As a fellow dreamer and entrepreneurial soul, I was always captivated by his passion for agricultural endeavors. Although our discussions on this topic typically covered lackluster and dry content, Papa Stan enthralled me by always adding the wittiest stories to bring laughter and a smile to make conversations interesting and informative. I would be so lucky to have inherited even a fraction of the man’s charm.” – Kyle Price

“Summers spent visiting PawPaw’s farm were started by a greeting of two round Labrador Retrievers with a damp smell of the China (Texas) soil and the ever-present mischievous glint in PawPaw’s eyes. I always loved helping him mow and seed the lawn, crushing coke cans and building barn doors. Paw Paw taught me many things, like the intricacies of strawberry farming, how not to wire an ATV and my love of all things seafoam green. Most importantly he taught me to take life a little less seriously and if I need to get rid of some junk just bury it under a pond.” – Valerie Price

“PawPaw was everything a grandson could ask for. Ever present, he always answered my calls, welcomed me out to the farm or shop, and engaged with me about life, love, and happiness. I’ll always remember building the gazebo together that has withstood every hurricane to date, grabbing lunch with him and Gene Dishman every week the summer I spent in Beaumont, telling him about my coming engagement, and chasing his dog (and later in life my own dogs) around the property. He showed me the value of retiring to something and it warms my heart knowing he maximized the last decade of life. With his passing, the world has lost a joyful soul and a true conversationalist. He will be missed but not forgotten.” – Will Price

He most certainly loved life.  Always eager to start a conversation or tell a joke, he befriended everyone, making friends wherever he was.  He loved the laughter and social interplay with all other humans, celebrating their foibles and successes.

He is survived by his wife, Carol Copeland Price; three sons, William Kipling Price, Gregg Kendall Price, his wife Kathleen Price and Stanley Khristen Price; one daughter, Katherine Haley Jones; four grandchildren, William Ryan Price, Alyssa Price Francis, Gregg Kyle Price and Valerie Leigh Price; five great grandchildren, Sterns Andrew Price, Arthur Lee Francis, Adelaide Rose Price, Davis Joseph Price and August George Francis; three stepchildren, Sherry Walker, Gary Hollingsworth and Holly Purifoy; a litter of grand-puppies, Anni, Nit, Snoop, Tucker and Juneau; and a kindle of grand-kittens, Barrack, Leo and Gaia.

So end’s Stanley’s quest to outlive his friends. Some of the unfortunate losers were Billy Bryant, Gene Dishman, Jay Garth, Frank Hardcastle, Sylvester Lastovica, Carl Lohman, Perry McFaddin, David Piland, Billy Roane and Sam O. Smith. At Stanley’s bequest (and in line with his lifetime antics), the longevity bets he won have been willed to those friends who survived him, best of luck collecting those past winnings (we all know Stanley gave it his best).  Some of the winners are Benton Bond and Red Scot. Cheers to all of you! Thank you for the joy of life you brought and shared with Stanley and the corresponding, ever-present fear of embarrassment for our family.  It is anticipated that with the passing of Stanley and his friends, the number of shrimp, crawfish and crab boils will decline.

As a public service message, Beaumont neighborhoods and other areas are safer now. There will be no more: making and shooting of exploding projectiles at the mayor’s home; manufacture of homemade gun powder and nitroglycerin; tampering with railroad facilities (during times of war); driving on steel rims (when rubber tires were rationed); and no more flushing of sodium into the sewer system at Reveille time in College Station. Most of these antics ended in Stanley’s youth but his family was never certain he had outgrown them. Fortunately, the statute of limitations have passed and, as best we know, there was never any serious physical injury nor jail time.

His cremation arrangements were handled through Broussard’s Crematorium under the direction of Broussard’s, 1605 North Major Drive, Beaumont.