“He had a tremendous love for the Dayton community,” Price’s son, Matthew Price, said. “He was an engineer and he loved that Dayton was the birthplace of many inventions. When people would come to town, he was a one-man tour guide.”
Remembered as an innovative and dynamic leader, Gayle Price was a Princeton graduate and Air Force veteran who returned to Dayton in 1956 after piloting fighter jets during the Korean Conflict.
He went on to take the helm of his family’s Dayton business, Price Brothers, which manufactured and distributed construction materials for the water utility industry since 1899 before it was sold in 2007.
“At one point, every drop of water in Dayton went through a Price Brothers pipe,” Matthew Price said.
As CEO, Gayle Price oversaw the supply of machinery for the Great Man-Made River Project, which helped supply water pumped from underneath the Sahara Desert to the North African Coast. He traveled to Libya, England and China, but Dayton would always be his hometown, his son said.
“He was very well-respected for his intellect and integrity, and he was very well-connected to many business groups in town,” Matthew Price said.
Price helped steer the direction of the conservancy district during his nearly three-decade tenure, board president Mark Rentschler said.
“Gayle served for almost 30 years on the board, many times in leading capacities,” Rentschler said. “He brought innovative business ideas and practices to the district over many years, including some unique and very valuable financial planning tools. That type of leadership really helped set the mission of the conservancy.”
Along with the conservancy board, he served on organizations such as the Dayton Chamber of Commerce, the Carillon and United Way. He was president of the Moraine Country Club and served on the Board of Bank One, Reynolds & Reynolds, and Advantage RN, among others.
“He was dynamic and inspirational,” Rentschler said. “He was always a dignified and very friendly person. Those characteristics served him very well in his business career and his service to the community. He’ll be missed.”
Gayle Price is survived by his wife, three children and eight grandchildren.
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