David William Price

PULLMAN, Wash. – David William Price, who worked for Washington State University Pullman in the School of Economic Sciences from September 1962 to August 2000, died Aug. 12, 2017.

david price Price, 81, of Pullman, passed away at Avalon Care Center, seven weeks after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He lived a long and full life, traveling the globe and making many lifelong friends.

Price was born Jan. 19, 1936, in Syracuse, NY, to Ralph and Florence (Green) Price. His family moved to his grandfather’s 150-acre farm in Hughesville, Penn., when he was six, and he received his education there. Dave continued to own and manage the Pennsylvania farm his whole life. Following high school, David received his bachelor’s degree from Penn State University in 1957, where he was a member of Delta Theta Sigma Fraternity. He earned his Ph.D. from Michigan State University in 1964.

He married Dorothy Zglinski on June 15, 1958, and they moved to Pullman with their six-week old son Douglas in 1962, where they both received faculty positions at WSU. David was a professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics, and retired from WSU in 2000.

Former students and faculty colleagues of David spoke favorably and admiringly of his contributions to his profession, to the Department of Agricultural Economics, and to the many people he influenced and mentored throughout his career. He taught a wide variety of courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, which ranged from basic pricing analysis to advanced econometrics. His research efforts included analyzing the optimum replanting of apple trees in commercial orchards, marketing of sweet cherries, and food consumption patterns of consumers, including analysis of the school lunch program in Washington, among many other topics. He was a member of the American Agricultural Economics Association and the Western Agricultural Economics Association, and was also an editor of the Western Journal of Agricultural Economics for three years.

Dave enjoyed family, genealogy, sports, fine dining and wine, photography, exercise and his gardens. He is survived by his sons Douglas Price (Laura), of Maple Falls and Pullman, Wash., and Daniel Price of Colville, Wash. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife Dorothy and his parents.

The family greatly appreciates the many old friends and colleagues who reached out and visited Dave during his short stay at Avalon. The family suggests memorial donations to the Whitman County Humane Society, P.O. Box 453, Pullman, WA 99163.