E. Leon Price

E. Leon Price, 88, long time businessman and resident of Bossier City, Louisiana, passed away on November 14, 2017. Leon was born on February 17, 1929 to William Ross and Mary Sweeney Price in Carpenter, Mississippi. He felt blessed to be born in the year of the Great Depression and for the years in which he lived. He grew up a farmer in Copiah County, Mississippi. At thirteen, he drove the local school bus which was the family\'s farm truck with seats inserted in the bed. As a teenager, he and his father traveled to the Midwest to harvest crops to help the WWII effort. At 18 years old, he married the love of his life, Mary Ruth Regan. They left the farm shortly thereafter and moved to Nashville, TN where he took a job working with his uncle at an equipment sales dealership. He moved back to Mississippi and began working at the Mack Dealership in Jackson. During this time, Mary and Leon were blessed with five children. In 1969 he moved his family to Bossier City, LA and opened a Mack Truck dealership. It turned out that this farmer\'s true calling was in sales! During his successful career as a Mack Truck dealer, he won many sales awards, including the Mack USA Dealership of the year in 1987. Operations expanded to Monroe and Lafayette, Louisiana. He was pleased that his children followed in his steps by joining and growing the businesses. Leon and Mary enjoyed traveling all over the country. They traveled from coast to coast enjoying God\'s creation and making new friends, but first and foremost they were Christians. Leon\'s special ministry was sharing himself and his blessings with people from all walks of life. He and Mary are well known for their generosity and acts of kindness beginning in Mississippi, at Airline Drive Church of Christ, University Church of Christ and throughout Bossier City and Shreveport. And many of their good works are known only to God and to those who were blessed by their generous spirit. To be included in Leon\'s circle of friends was a true gift. Whether sharing a meal or a bowl of Blue Bell ice cream, you were blessed to be a part of his circle. And he did not have to know you. If you ever went to pick up your Christmas lay-away at K-Mart or Walmart and found that it had already been paid for, it was probably because a kind, silver haired Santa had brought you into his circle. Leon never met a stranger and always had a story to tell. Leon had a great love for flying and earned his private pilot\'s license. His first venture into flying was a partnership interest in a Grumman American. He eventually purchased a Beechcraft King Air. He also liked to bush hog with his Farmall and Ford tractors and found it relaxing. From Ole Miss and Mississippi State, the Shreveport-Bossier Mudbugs and to the sports that his grandchildren and great grandchildren participated in, Leon was a true supporter. Even if the grand kids were not playing, you might find him at an Airline High football game just because he loved being a part of his community. He was preceded in death by his parents, Ross and Mary Alma Price, brother, William Ross Price, Jr., and grandsons, Jonathan Ross Price and Jonathan Price Montgomery. He will be greatly missed by his loving wife of 70 years, Mary Ruth Price; brother, Robert M. Price of Jacksonville, FL; daughter, Judy Price Cole and son-in-law Sonny of Bossier City; son, Randall L. Price and daughter-in-law Adara of Monroe, LA; daughter, Marilyn Price Bristow and son-in-law Dee of Bossier City; daughter, Janet Price Martin of Bossier City; and son, Anthony Wayne Price of Shreveport; grandchildren Angela Cole Sullivan and husband, Wayne; Chris Cole and wife, Allison; Randy Price, Jr., and wife, LaRae; Regan Price and wife, Nhu; Allen Price; Jennifer Bristow; Laura Bristow; Dr. David Montgomery III and wife, Diane; Jordan Montgomery; and Brooke Meadows; great grandchildren Anna Sullivan, Caroline Cole; Andrew Cole, Katelyn Price, Joshua Price, Jacqueline Price, Alexis Price, Wendi Price, Gabriel Price, Fiona Price, and Jonathan Paul Montgomery. Visitation will be held at Airline Drive Church of Christ on Thursday, November 16 from 4 to 8 pm. Funeral services are at 1:30 pm on Friday, November 17, at Airline Drive Church of Christ. Burial will follow at Rose-Neath Cemetery, Bossier City. Pallbearers are grandsons: Chris Cole, Randy Price, Jr., Regan Price, Allen Price, Wayne Sullivan, Dr. David Montgomery III and Jordan Montgomery. Honorary Pallbearers are Edward Abner, Dr. John Brady, Adon Cavazos, L. J. Earnest, Bill Golden, Grady Golden, Bruce Goudeau, L. C. Massey, Bob Swor, Jack Thomas and Vernon Weeks. Officiating funeral services: Ben Brewster minister of Airline Drive Church of Christ and Jerry Hodge, minister of University Church of Christ. The family would like to express deepest appreciation to the staffs at Promise and Willis-Knighton hospitals in Bossier for the compassionate care given to Leon. And a special thank you to Dr. John Brady for the many years of friendship and care given to both Leon and Mary. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to Bossier KIDS, Inc. or Shared Harvest Ministry at 2125 Airline Drive, Bossier City, LA 71111 and University Church of Christ Mission Fund at 2045 E. 70^th Street, Shreveport, LA 71105.