Mayor Nancy McNally (left) stands next to Elizabeth Ann Price Credit: Courtesy of Nancy McNally

City officials Monday night saluted Elizabeth Ann Price as Westminster’s “mom” lauding her work as an educator, journalist and historian.

Councilor Obi Ezeadi also made sure people knew that Price’s kindness was just as remarkable as all her other achievements.

“She really was the mom of Westminster,” Ezeadi said as he introduced a proclamation during the regular city council meeting honoring Price. “She advocated for me when no one else would. She always said we do all things in love…and because of love.”

At least a dozen of Price’s family and friends crowded Ezeadi as he stood in front of the council to read the proclamation for the 98-year-old Price, who died June 3.

Price was a booster for the city but also reminded officials that there had been long-standing mistrust between residents and the city’s government, Ezeadi said.

“She always said that a community is bigger than streets and lights,” he said.

Invested deeply

Price was born in Kansas and moved to Westminster in 1951 with her husband, Garnet. Once here, they built their home, raised five children and “…invested deeply in the life of the city for over seven decades,” the proclamation states.

She taught at Westminster High School, Hodgkins Junior High and eventually Ranum High School, where she served as journalism advisor for The Ranum Roundup until her retirement in 1992. She left behind “generations of students who remember her guidance and care…” the proclamation states.

Price was “cornerstone of Westminster’s civic and cultural life, serving over 20 years with the Westminster Retired School Employees Association, more than 25 years on the Friends of the Westminster Public Library Board, and as an honorary member and historian of Zeta Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma,” the proclamation states.

She received numerous recognitions and awards, including the “Light of Christ” award from the Denver Presbytery and “Citizen of the Year” from the Westminster Legacy Foundation. She also authored the 125-year history of the Westminster Presbyterian Church and became a meticulous family historian, compiling extensive genealogies that connected relatives across generations and continents, a “…labor of love that enriched her community and kin,” the proclamation states.

Her son, Larry Price, said his mother stayed active throughout her life and was a living historical resource for the whole community.

“You could come to her and learn the history of Westminster,” Price said. “She did not have to pick up a book or anything.”

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