The Hill School Mourns the Loss of Associate Headmaster Emeritus and Hall of Fame Coach Harry L. Price
The Hill School community is mourning the loss of one of its most iconic, adored faculty members. Harry L. Price passed away in the early morning hours of Wednesday, April10, surrounded by his family. He was 86 years old. Harry Price first joined the Hill faculty in 1965 as an instructor of mathematics, and retired from the School as associate headmaster, instructor of mathematics, and head boys’ varsity lacrosse coach in 2000.
One does not have to look too far to feel the impact of Harry Price’s deep love for the School and his former students, players, colleagues, parents, and friends as well as the Hill community’s reciprocated love and appreciation for Harry.
Harry’s storied career at Hill was one in which he did just about everything one can do living and working in a boarding school. 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. And, while Harry was fulfilling his Hill duties, he also was a local celebrity, serving as the host of the Lehigh Valley’s popular educational quiz show “Scholastic Scrimmage” from 1973, the show’s first year, until 1995, when he was appointed associate headmaster.
Perhaps most importantly, Harry was a father figure who, along with his wife, Nancy, took a genuine interest in helping students develop into adults, while also raising their own children, Bronwyn and Job, on Hill’s campus. The Prices exemplified the meaning of the “The Family Boarding School.”
Upon his retirement in 2000, then Headmaster David R. Dougherty referred to Harry as a “symbol of principle, stability, and fairness.” Harry served as associate headmaster during Hill’s historic transition to coeducation. That same year, the Class of 2000 dedicated the Dial yearbook in his honor. On behalf of the class, Clay Shaner ’00 wrote the following: “Ask anyone who has had the privilege of meeting him, and they will undoubtedly laud him as nothing less than the epitome of genuineness and versatility. To me and hundreds of other people, he has been a truly heartfelt friend and mentor . . . His sometimes intimidating, yet sincere look of disapproval always quickly turns into a caring grin of fatherly reassurance.”
Harry’s legacy of dedication and service to The Hill lives on in the hearts and minds of his students, players, and colleagues, but he is also permanently linked to the programs he most impacted.
In celebration of The Hill’s 150th anniversary and in 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 prior to that lived in Upper School from 1965 to 1967.
In 1999, prior to his final season as head coach of varsity boys’ lacrosse, an endowment of the head coaching position was established in Harry’s honor. Alumni, parents, family, and friends gathered in New York City to celebrate Harry’s coaching legacy and the creation of The Harry L. Price Coach of Varsity Boys’ Lacrosse with a grand party and “roast” including colleagues and former players.
Indeed, Hill’s lacrosse program experienced its most successful years during Harry’s two separate tenures as head coach, clinching the State Championship in 1986 and leading to his induction into the Founders Hall of The Hill School’s Athletics Hall of Fame. Harry’s remarkable lacrosse career began as a player at Swarthmore College, where he was named an All-American in 1960. In Harry’s first stint as head coach of Hill lacrosse, he guided the 1973 team to the State Championship game and was named PA Coach of the Year. After leaving Hill for a few years to serve as the coach of Lehigh University lacrosse and the coordinator for the Lehigh Valley Association of Independent Colleges, Harry returned to his role as head coach in 1984, and again reached the State Final and was named PA Coach of the Year. Throughout his coaching career, he led teams to the State semi-finals in 1975, 1985, 1989, and 1995; the State quarterfinals in 1987, 1990, and 1994; and won the Suburban League in 1984, 1985, 1987, 1989, and 1990. In 1999, he was inducted into the Tri-County Chapter of the PA Sports Hall of Fame. He finished his career by coaching at Pottsgrove High School from 2002 through 2006. Impressively, but not unsurprisingly, he coached 11 High School All-Americans and 11 players who went on to become College All-Americans (10 of them being Hill alumni). In 2006, he received the Summit Award as Most Influential Person in Sports in Northern Montgomery, Southern Berks, and Northern Chester Counties. In 2007, he was inducted into the Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
After Harry retired from The Hill in 2000, he and Nancy didn’t move too far from campus, settling in the Rosedale section of Pottstown. Harry served Pottstown as a Borough Councilman, 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.
Harry would return to Hill on many occasions after his retirement – tutoring math in the Ryan Library, cheering on student-athletes from the sidelines, Hill vs. Lawrenceville and Reunion Weekends, and other special events. In 2014, alumni, parents, and friends generously supported the funding to name one of the new turf fields in Harry’s honor. Since that time, The Harry L. Price Field has been the home of some of the most spirited and heated athletics competitions and championship wins. Harry’s field is the place where Hill pride comes alive, a fitting tribute to a Hill legend.
It was noted during the dedication ceremony of Price Field that all Harry Price has done for Hill and for others has always been about the kids – about the School – and not about him:
Harry is a quintessential Hill School person, on the field and off. Whether acting as the tough coach whose booming voice could be heard throughout campus, or as the gentlemanly, soft-spoken mentor to hundreds of faculty colleagues, or as the patient math teacher, table head, and tutor, Harry Price represents all that is good about The Hill School and our emphasis on sportsmanship, principled and compassionate conduct, School traditions and history, and the pursuit of excellence.
Please keep the entire Price family in your thoughts and prayers during this time, including Harry’s daughter, Bronwyn DeMaso; grandchildren, Matteo, Lucia, Luca, Stella, and Jillian; and brothers, Col Charles S. Price (USAF ret) and The Honorable J. Frederick Price, and their families. Harry was predeceased by his parents Lucia Acquaviva and Kent S. Price Sr., his son Cmdr Job Price, a decorated Navy Seal, and brother, Dr. Kent S. Price Jr., in 2012, and his wife, Nancy, in 2016.
A viewing will be held on Saturday, April 20, 2024, from 9:00 to 10:45 AM at Catagnus Funeral Home (711 N. Franklin St., Pottstown, PA 19464). A service will follow at 11:00AM at the funeral home, followed by Military Honors. Burial will be held privately by the family at a later date.