Feb. 23, 1926—Nov. 5, 2009

Charles Ivory Price Sr., an advocate for civil rights and a community organizer, died Thursday after a brief illness in Charlotte, N. C. He was 83.

Born in Cleveland, he moved with his family to Buffalo, where he would become a labor leader, founder and director of credit unions, advocate for civil rights and community organizer.

Mr. Price graduated from Hutchinson-Central High School, where he played football and was awarded a scholarship from the L’Overture Club, which helped him attend Clark College in Atlanta, which is now Clark Atlanta University. He also studied at the University of Buffalo, when he also worked for Sylvania Electric, where he was the first African American to be trained for a skilled position.

He then worked at the Chevrolet Metal Casting Plant and became active in the United Auto Workers. He was editor of the Local 1173 newspaper and the first treasurer of its credit union. Later, he was elected secretary and president of Local 1173.

In 1969, Mr. Price was appointed to the national staff of the UAW and assigned to Region 9 in Western New York. He retired from the UAW more than 25 years of service.

Mr. Price was a board member and officer of many organizations, including United Negro College Fund, Operation PUSH, Project Equality, Meals on Wheels, Boy Scouts, Buffalo Negro Scholarship Foundation, BUILD of Buffalo, Black Development Foundation, NAACP, Seventy-Eight Restoration Corp., Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. and Buffalo Urban League.

A devoted family man known for having a big heart, Mr. Price was credited with improving life for many Buffalo residents, pushing the city to hire more African Americans as police officers and firefighters, helping to launch a day-care center for working mothers, securing a supermarket for a poorly served neighborhood, organizing job-training programs and helping to start or run two federal credit unions.

His wife of 53 years, Sallye Trott Price, died in 2003.

Survivors include two daughters, Charlene Price-Patterson and Carol Harriston; two sons, Sherman and Carlton; and a brother, Robert “Butch” Price.

Services will be next Saturday in St. John Baptist Church, 184 Goodell St., where memorial services for Omega Psi Phi will be held at noon and St. John Lodge 16, Prince Hall Masons, at 12:30 p. m., with the wake at 1 and homegoing service at 2.