August 5, 1926 – June 6, 2013
Bessie “Becky” (Mitchell) Price was born August 5, 1926 to the late Booker Mitchell and Rose Ella Jones in Little Rock, Ark. She departed this life on June 6, 2013 at Delmar Gardens Nursing Home of Chesterfield, MO.
After the family moved to Monroe, La. Becky attended school in Monroe and later in Little Rock, Ark. She confessed her faith in Christ at an early age in Monroe and after moving to St. Louis in 1948 joined Lane Tabernacle Church and finally Union Memorial United Methodist Church.
She was married to St. Louis’ first African-American radio personality, Wiley Price Sr., who departed this life prior. They had one son, Wiley Price III, photojournalist at The St. Louis American.
Becky was a lover of sewing, big band music, baseball, bowling and track & field. During the summer of 1964 she could not find a team for her 8-year-old son Wiley and decided to start a team of her own after meeting with George Khoury of the Khoury League, who told her she would be the first woman to manage a team in St. Louis. With the help of Hempstead Elementary School principal Mr. Schaefer, the team was named the Hempstead Tigers. She coached the team for two years.
Becky leaves to cherish her memories: three sons, Herman Mitchell (California), Sheldon Jackson (Georgia) and Wiley Price III; two grandsons, Jaime Price and Wiley Price IV; two great-grandchildren, Trent Price and Kylie Price; two sisters, Barbara Green and Gerri McKeever; as well as a host of nephews, nieces, cousins and friends.
