Patricia (Tricia) and Paul Price

After enjoying their life and work in Virginia in the 1980s, the Prices knew they would one day move from their home in Peachtree Corners, GA, to a continuous care community farther “up north.”  To decide which one of many such places across the Southeast United States, they established a list of criteria.  Against this backdrop, and after extensive research, Westminster Canterbury Lynchburg easily rose to the top of the list of possibilities.

Tricia, born in Brooklyn, NY, and raised in Pennsylvania, and Paul born and raised in Iowa, met on a blind date in Ankeny, Iowa, in the Fall of 1981.  Paul was living there and working in graphics as an independent contractor. Tricia, with degrees from the College of William and Mary, Drexel University, and the College of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery at Des Moines University, was finishing a residency in Family Practice Medicine.  Paul and Tricia’s decision to marry in February 1982, came faster than the one to move to WCL.

Paul, upon completion of a B. S. degree from Iowa State University, taught 3rd and 4th grades for seven years.  From his days as a child, he enjoyed drawing and when in high school drew cartoon posters for various school sports teams.  He worked for three years developing graphics for educational materials for Bell Telephone Company.  From 1975 to 1979, he drew a weekly cartoon strip for the Ankeny Press Citizen newspaper.  

The words “model railroad enthusiast” describe one of Paul’s passions.  Tricia estimates his model layout in the basement was at least 9 feet by 24 feet with many of the buildings and much of the scenery built by him.  The fact that it would not fit as a unit into their Riverside apartment caused some disappointment for Paul, but he has brought some components in case he can contribute to displays.  He has also made a number of YouTube videos of his layout that can be found at PumpkinJunctionRR. In Georgia, when not running his model railway, he was also often found in his basement workshop fixing things, or outside keeping the bushes and grass trimmed.

Except for working for two years as a Family Practice physician with a multi-specialty medical group in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and serving for a couple of years as a National Health Service Corps physician at a federal prison in West Virginia, Tricia’s medical career of 30 years was spent in Atlanta as a non-clinical medical officer, directing a chronic disease program for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Paul worked as a stay-at-home father and substitute teacher; together they raised a son, Graham, today a financial analysist with Raymond James in Houston, Texas. They also were blessed with a daughter, Erin, who was born with severe congenital disabilities and lived only a year.

Both Paul and Tricia regularly exercise and look forward to moving their workouts from their local YMCA to the WC Wellness Center.  They are readers, Paul, more so than Tricia.  They like to hike and anticipate many excursions to the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The Prices were members of a traditional Anglican Church and now attend All Saints church in Lynchburg.  While in Atlanta, they volunteered with the Assistance League of Atlanta, a nonprofit organization that helps children and adults who have been affected by homelessness, poverty, and abuse.  Some of their time was spent working in the ALA thrift shop warehouse where contributions are first stored and made ready for sale.  They also helped operate the thrift shop.