Kenneth (Kenny) Dwight Price
February 24, 1930 ~ April 20, 2019
Kenneth (Kenny) Dwight Price, 89, of Adrian, Oregon, went peacefully to be with the Lord on April 20, 2019, surrounded by his family.
Kenny was born in Lodi (Callaway) Nebraska on February 24, 1930, to Ira Walter and Clara Belle (Shively) Price. The Price family moved from Nebraska in 1937 during the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression to Adrian. He, his dad and a sister traveled in a 1928 Ford while the rest of the family came by train. Upon arrival he attended Kingman Kolony school at the age of seven. After living in several homes in the area, they settled in Sunset Valley in the summer of 1940. In 1942 his parents purchased land on Klamath Avenue that became the family farm. Kenny had five sisters and two brothers. The property was mostly sagebrush that he and the family cleared together, by a team of horses. Area families and neighbors were blessed with the Owyhee Irrigation Project that help with the settlement. Kenny attended the Owyhee School through the eighth grade, and attended Adrian High School where he participated in football and boxing. It was here as a sophomore he would exchange a wink with Jean Dierking in the hall. He graduated in 1949 from Adrian High School.
On January 8, 1950, Kenny married his high school sweetheart and love of his life, Norma Jean (Dierking) Price, quietly before church on a Sunday morning. They were married 65 years and had three children. Kenny and Jean built their home in 1952 where they raised their family and he currently resides, south of Adrian. It was here that he raised alfalfa seed, potatoes, hay, onions and grain crops. He and his father-in-law, L.W. Dierking, were some of the first propagators of the leaf cutter bees in the 1950s. In 1956 they built the alfalfa seed cleaning plant where he cleaned seed until his retirement. In 1979 he envisioned a grain seed processing plant, which is known as Price & Son Seed today.
Kenny was an active member and elder of the Kingman Memorial Presbyterian Church, presently the Adrian Community Church. In his early years he was a Boy Scout leader, on the Adrian School Board, Adrian Lions Club, Director of Nyssa Co-Op, served over 23 years on the Owyhee Southboard of Control, member of the Malheur Potato Bargaining Association, and Malheur Country Alfalfa Seed Growers Association. In 1992 he was awarded the OWGL Malheur County Conservation Farm of the Year.
Kenny retired from farming in 1992. They built their retirement cabin in McCall, Idaho, in 1993. It was here that Kenny could get away to relax and play. He snowmobiled, fished and he even waterskied.
Kenneth is survived by his two sons, Rod (Patti) Price and Larry (Kathy) Price both of Adrian, and a daughter, Sherri (Mike) Pedersen of McCall; seven grandchildren: Kelsey Zimmerman, Sid Price, Amber (Jeremy) Conant, Jeremy (Kaitlin) Price, Shelly (Darren) Dallolio, Darrin Pedersen and Bryce (Jadah) Pedersen; and eight great-grandchildren; and his siblings, Shirley Robb, Marian Robb, Fern (Orville) Groves, Bernadine (Jim) McGinnis, and Joel (Vikki) Price. He was preceded in death by his parents, Ira and Clara Price; his wife, Norma Jean; sister, (Phyllis) Joanne Share; brother and Ira Price Jr.
The family wishes to extend a special thank you to all the caregivers for their care, love and support in his final years.
Kenny’s viewing was held Sunday, April 28, at Leinkaemper’s Funeral Home in Nyssa. Funeral services were Monday, April 29 at the Adrian Community Church, with internment following at the Owyhee Cemetery. Memorials can be made to the Adrian Community Church. Condolences can be made to the family at www.lienkaemper-thomason.com.
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James Ronald (Ron) Johnson
Passed away April 19, 2019
A funeral is scheduled for Friday May 10, 2019, at 11 a.m. at the Vale Christian Church. Lunch will immediately follow the service.
An obituary will be published at a later time.
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John C. Johnston
Jan. 16, 1929 – Apr. 20, 2019
John C. Johnston passed away April 20, 2019 at the age of 90.
Former, longtime Vale resident, he recently resided in Gladstone, Oregon. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Suzanne C. Johnston, five children, 15 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
Deaths:
• Zona M. Koopman, 80, of Ontario, died April 24 at home. Lienkaemper Chapel, Ontario.
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