POTTSTOWN — Harry L. Price, the revered faculty member, legendary Hill School boys’ lacrosse coach, and civic leader, died Wednesday. He was 86.
Price put The Hill School boys’ lacrosse program on the map during his two tenures as head coach over 27 seasons. His Blues teams reached the Pennsylvania championship game on three occasions, winning the championship in 1986 after finals appearances in 1973 and 1984.
Price was an All-American player at Swarthmore College in 1960 before graduating and finding his way to The Hill School.
During his two stints leading the Blues, Price was twice named Pennsylvania Coach of the Year and his teams played in three state finals, reached the semifinals on four other occasions (1975, 1985, 1989, 1995), and the quarterfinals three times (1987, 1990, 1994).
Price’s tournament runs were at a time when it was a true Pennsylvania championship with public and private programs combined.
He spent two years as head coach at Lehigh University (1979-80) before coming home to The Hill for his second storied run.
Price’s commitment to teaching the game continued even after retirement from The Hill School. Price was the inaugural coach of the Pottsgrove boys team from 2002-06.
Price coached 11 High School All-Americans and 11 who would become College All-Americans.
Accolades for his coaching service include induction to the Tri-County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1999; a Summit Award in 2006; and induction into the Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2007. Additionally, Price was an inaugural inductee into The Hill’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012, one of 17 to be selected to its Founders Hall.
Price was a dedicated mainstay at the prestigious boarding school from 1965 to 2000. He served as a mathematics instructor, football and lacrosse coach, dorm parent, director of college advising, director of admission, director of development, dean of faculty, assistant headmaster, and associate headmaster.
Price’s commitment to education was known outside the walls of Hill as well. He served as host of the Lehigh Valley educational quiz show “Scholastic Scrimmage,” which was televised from 1973 until 1995, when he was appointed associate headmaster.
His daughter Bronwyn joked that stint on the program “made him almost famous. We would be out for dinner in Bethlehem and people were always recognizing him and coming up to talk to him.”
In celebration of The Hill’s 150th anniversary and recognition of the Prices’ retirement, the first floor of Wendell Dormitory was named Price Hall. The Prices served as dorm parents in Wendell from 1967 to 1970 and before that lived in Upper School from 1965 to 1967.
In 1999, before his final season as head coach of varsity boys’ lacrosse, an endowment of the head coaching position was established in Harry Price’s honor.
Price’s legacy will live on through the field named in his honor, the Harry L. Price Field where the boys’ lacrosse and soccer teams compete.
Price was also a civil leader, serving on the Pottstown School Board as well as a member of the Pottstown Borough Council. He was a member of the Board of Directors for the Chamber of Commerce and American Red Cross, and he was inducted into the Pottstown Hall of Fame.
He was born in Chestertown, Md., on Feb. 26, 1938, in to the late Kent S. Price Sr. and Lucia Acquaviva Price. He was raised on a dairy farm in Chestertown and attended Swarthmore College and Lehigh University where he earned a master’s degree.
He served in the U.S. Army from 1961 to 1964.
He is survived by his daughter, Bronwyn DeMaso; daughter-in-law, Stephanie Price; grandchildren, Matteo, Lucia, Luca, Stella, and Jillian; and brothers, Col. Charles F. Price, USAF (Ret.) and the Hon. John Frederick Price, and their families.
Price was predeceased by his son, Job, a decorated Navy Seal, and brother, Kent, in 2012; and his wife, Nancy, in 2016.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial donations be sent to The Hill School, 860 Beech St, Pottstown, PA 19464, to support lacrosse in honor of Harry. Online donations can be made at https://alumni.thehill.org/InMemoryofHarryPrice
Mercury Staff writer Evan Brandt contributed to this article.