Carl Amos Price

Irmo—Carl Amos Price, 89, passed peacefully into the arms of the Lord Saturday, October 17, 2020, after a long illness. He was the son of the late James W. and Eloise Blanton Price of Gaffney, SC.Survivors are two sons, Russell Edward (Diane) of Gilbert, SC and Richard Todd (Melanie) of Columbia, SC; four granddaughters, Mindy (Denny) Keisler of Gilbert, Summer (Jonathan) Rowell of West Columbia, Sara (Rachel) Price and Stephanie (Nate) Leske of La Crosse, WI; seven great-grandchildren and three sisters.He was predeceased by his parents, his wife, Patricia Scruggs Price, and eleven siblings. Carl was a Veteran of the US Air Force, serving as a radar technician in the Korean Conflict. He loved golf, bowling, traveling the world, and gardening which was always evident in his meticulously kept yard. He retired as an engineer from the V.C. Summer Nuclear Plant and was a member of Irmo Baptist Church. Due to Covid, a private graveside service will be held on Wednesday, October 21, 2020, in Bush River Memorial Gardens. Memorials may be made in his name to Wounded Warriors Project, P.O. Box 758516, Topeka, Kansas 66675-8516. TRIBUTE TO OUR DAD: Carl Amos Price, the smartest man I have ever known. The toughest and most loving and loved man that my brother Russell Price and me have the privilege of calling dad. You left an absolutely wonderful beautiful legacy. Your sons, Russell Price and me, only tried to follow in your enormous and beautiful footsteps. You will be missed. Missed in many ways. You always showed love, and one of the most important ways to you was to show us the importance of hard work. Even though your example was more than we could hope to keep up with, you made us, and many others want to strive. Our dad, Carl Amos Price, was there for the cutting edge pioneering at CVNPA. He is actually the guy that finally got their Nuclear Instrumentation working properly. He was working there when I was born, he had just left Savannah River, after living in North Augusta where Russell Price was born. There, he was an I&C technician, after getting out of the Air Force as a radar technician in Europe. There are some neat stories from the Savannah River Site of radiation detection devices that our dad either made work or actually outright came up within the first place. More about dad. When he left CVNPA, he went to Duke Power as an Engineer in Training, working on instrument and control systems design for the OCONEE Nuclear Station in northern South Carolina. So we grew up in Charlotte, NC in the late '60s and early '70s. From 1968 until 1972, he not only worked full-time but he self-studied to take the Professional Engineers exam as an Electrical Engineer. He took that test in 1972, in Columbia, SC, and passed with flying colors. It was the last year it was possible to challenge that exam without a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering. It was an absolutely amazing accomplishment that not many people would have attempted, let alone excelled at. I still remember many days of dad huddled in our spare bedroom with books, slide rules, pencils, and mountains of engineering style paper pads. Woe be it, to anybody that touched or moved any of it! He spent so many long days at nights in there, and we all took our shifts bringing him snacks, sandwiches, and many gallons of coffee. During those years, he also set the family up getting our house built. Much of the work there and every other place he ever made a home, he took on himself. Always including us of course. He was always the guy to do most or all of the work on any projects himself. "If those guys can do it, we can too" was his mantra. "It may take us a little longer, but we'll damn sure do it right." That was the mindset that we grew up with our whole lives. And we couldn't be more grateful for the education that was provided. 20 years later he would retire from SCE&G, after a career including stints as Manager of Nuclear Engineering at VC Summer Nuclear Station Unit 1. His career included significant direct involvement and contribution in designing, building, and starting up of 3 Nuclear Power stations. Two of which continue to provide safe, reliable, economical, and greenhouse emission-free electrical energy to a large part of the South Carolina and North Carolina population. Dad came from a humble yet hard-working family background. He was raised on a hard-working farm with 15 siblings over the years. He was the fourth oldest and the fourth son in a time where sons were expected to provide for the rest of the family as much as the fathers were. Working for his and his entire family's survival and well being is what he grew up doing. From catching rabbits in hand made traps to growing food and taking care of livestock, that was their youth. I remember stories from his older brothers of dad's physical strength and stubborn perseverance. The siblings that watched him and his older brothers toss hay bails and crates of peaches, and split firewood all knew who their big brothers were. His sisters tell stories of him being no stranger to helping with the many kitchen and other of household chores for a large farm family. None of the four oldest brothers and least of all dad were guys anyone around that farm wanted to cross. But that huge family had nothing but love for each other and their community. Dad's family also had some interesting heritage. His father's grandfather was part of a famed group from history known as Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders. My dad had some memory issues towards his last days, but everyone at the care facility would go out of their way to brag about his good nature and sweet demeanor. The weekend before his passing, he mentioned that he had breakfast with his sister Emily that morning. He said it was really, great to see her as they had always remained close. Emily passed in 2007. I sure if anyone was coming to welcome him home. His loving sister would be a great candidate. Anyone that ever worked with our dad or for him knows what he was about. Doing the absolute best of your ability at whatever you're doing, and never giving any less than your all. While at the same time he was always about being humble, loving, and helpful to those around him. We are pretty dang proud of our dad! I for one, know I would be nothing without him.