The Pacific School of Religion community joins with the family of alumnx Jim Price in mourning his loss on June 12, at the age of 91, due to complications related to Parkinson’s Disease.
Born on Sept. 24, 1932, Jim was a lifelong resident of California. Price graduated from Stanford University (’54) before earning a Master of Divinity from PSR in 1958. Although he decided he was not called to continue on a ministerial path, he used what he learned at PSR as a foundational way of approaching leadership in other areas. Jim was always fascinated by politics. By the mid-1960s, he had a job as the Assistant to the Mayor of Oakland, and in 1970, he became the Western Regional Director of HUD. He shared that throughout his time in government, he strove to lead with PSR principles in mind, always thinking, “How can government policies serve the most people?”
After the birth of his second daughter, he left government work and launched his own housing development business so he could work from home with his wife, Jane, as his partner. Together, they developed and managed housing for low-income families in the North Bay and East Bay, among other projects. Later in his life, it was important to him to contribute in other ways: he served on countless boards and committees and maintained a lengthy list of charities to which he contributed until his death. He took joy in supporting everything from local theater to food banks to medical research organizations along with his alma mater, PSR. Jim is survived by his brother, daughters Kristin and Lisa (currently enrolled in PSR’s Master of Divinity program), their husbands, and one grandson.