Martha Sue Ingram Price
Martha Sue Ingram Price (Marty) was born on November 10, 1944, in St. Mary’s, West Virginia, a small town on the Ohio River. She spent her early childhood on the family farm, which had no running water or electricity at that time. She graduated from St. Mary’s High School where she played the clarinet in the Blue Devil Marching Band.
That band marched in the inauguration of President John Kennedy. She was voted “Most Dependable” by her classmates in her senior year.
Marty was the first in her family to attend college. She went to Marshall University where she majored in education and graduated in 1965. While she was in college she worked for the summer in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where she met her husband in June of 1961. She married John Price on June 4, 1966. After marriage they moved to Evansville, Indiana, where she taught and also earned a M.S. in education from Evansville University.
She and John moved to Austin, Texas, where he attended graduate school and she taught for four years.
They made their way to Ruston, Louisiana, in 1972, where she eventually found a teaching position at Cypress Springs Elementary School. She taught there until June of 2000 when she retired. They moved to McAllen, Texas, where she renewed her career and taught for eight more years at John H. Shary Elementary School. Even after she retired from that, she could not leave teaching entirely as she volunteered at a nearby school. There she worked with first graders for the first time. She found them very enjoyable.
After John retired, they once again, found a new place to live, a retirement community outside of San Antonio, Texas.
Marty passed away after a battle with vascular dementia on August 11, 2024. She was preceded in death by her parents, Norman and Mary Ingram. She is survived by her husband, John K. Price, her son, Jeffrey John Price, two grandchildren, John Q. Price and Leah Maria Price, and her daughter- in- law, Gabriella Price. In addition, she is survived by her brother Mike Ingram and nephews and nieces.
Marty was a kind and gentle woman, a doting mother, and a loving wife. She was a dedicated and hardworking teacher who brought school work home every school day and went to her school on the weekends many times. She loved the boys and girls she taught and wanted them to have the tools they needed to be happy and successful in life. She loved sports and was especially devoted to the Atlanta Braves and the San Antonio Spurs.
Marty will be missed by all who knew her. She was a ray of soft sunlight shining into the lives of those who knew her. We will not find another like her.
A memorial service for Marty Price will be held on Monday, November 25, 2024, at 11 a.m. at the Norton Building, 207 W. Mississippi, in Ruston.
