Sara Louise Price

July 2, 1928 – January 23, 2026

Civil service was her calling, but being a wife and mother was her destiny—and her greatest joy. Born on July 2, 1928, in Elyria, Ohio, Sara Louise White began life in humble ways, standing on a box just to reach the sink and wash dishes. From those beginnings grew a woman of remarkable strength, tenderness, and determination. She built a loving home with her husband of fifty-five years, Charles R. Price, and poured her heart into raising their only daughter, Leslie. Mother and daughter shared a special bond rooted in creativity, crafts, laughter, and love. To Leslie, and to so many others, she was simply “the bomb Mom.”

Known affectionately by her family as Sis, Snooks, Spider, and Sue, Sara carried many names, each one spoken with love. She endured the challenges of her youth with quiet resilience, honoring the lives and sacrifices of her brothers—Army veteran Henry White and Lt. Ferrier White, a Tuskegee Airman taken too soon by war. Life asked much of Sara, and she met it all with courage. She quit smoking, faced cancer head-on, and navigated love, loss, and change with grace. She showed us that persistence, even when life is hard, can still bloom into something beautiful.

Raised with deep rural roots, Sara’s family later moved to Oberlin, Ohio, where she graduated from high school and formed friendships that lasted a lifetime. She treasured those early bonds and made sure her daughter experienced the same grounding connection by sending her to the family farm during summers—time spent with her parents, Henry and Fosterina White, that created a bond “city folk” could never quite understand. Eventually, Sara followed the call of city life to Cleveland during a time of great social change. There, she built a life filled with service, joy, parties, and adventure.

In 1957, Sara returned to Rust Methodist Church in Oberlin to marry the love of her life, Charles R. “Chuck” Price—a Tuskegee Airman, air traffic controller, and staff writer and photojournalist for the Call & Post raised in Garden City, Kansas recruited to Cleveland by W.O. Walker. Dressed in a navy-blue suit and high heels, proudly showing off the slim ankles and waist he adored, Sara stepped into a partnership grounded in devotion, friendship, and mutual respect.

Sara worked as a loan examiner for the Veterans Administration, where she formed lifelong friendships, including a special bond with Gloria Thomas. With her knowledge and determination, she helped Charles use his G.I. Bill benefits so they could purchase their first dream home in Cleveland’s Lee-Harvard neighborhood moving from the home they shared with her best friend Connie Chavers on 142nd Street off Kinsman.

For more than forty years on Biltmore Avenue, Sara lived a full and joyful life. Once a tomboy who loved her red bicycle, spaghetti and meatballs, and baking bread with her mother, she rose above dreams deferred—like becoming a flight attendant, a dream denied because of her race—and embraced a world of reward and service instead. Her life was filled with card games, summer boat rides, backyard barbecues, and sweet moments spent baking desserts and making candy. Always stylish, she wore her pearls and pantyhose with pride, nurtured her potted plants, listened to Luther Vandross, and drove confidently—from her beloved Cutlass Supreme to her cherished “Honey,” a 2011 Honda CR-V.

After retiring early from the VA, Sara and Charles later moved to Bedford Heights in 2002—a necessary, if bittersweet, transition as health became a priority. Together they continued world traveling, enjoying casino trips, visits to Amish country, and friendships through the Bedford Heights Senior Center; a community they both loved and enjoyed, joining the RED HAT LADIES OF BEDFORD HEIGHTS. In 2012, Sara’s heart was broken when Charles received his eternal wings. Still, she pressed forward with strength and grace.

With her daughter Leslie now by her side from California, Sara continued to explore the world—traveling to Washington, D.C., making annual trips to her favorite place, Las Vegas, and delighting in simple joys like garage sales, thrift stores, weekly lunches, and close-out store adventures. She never missed her weekly hair appointments, even after chemotherapy in 2010 thinned her hair. She proudly rocked her many colorful caps—and always looked beautiful doing it.

Age may have slowed her step, but it never dimmed her spirit. Independent, fierce, and determined, Sara lived by her favorite words: “I can do it.” Her wit and wisdom reached beyond family, bringing smiles to many through stories shared by her daughter. She lived with gratitude, always looking for the bright side, always giving love freely. Now reunited with Charles, she watches over her beloved hummingbirds from heaven.

Sara shared a special love with her neighbors, who became family and created a true sense of community. She treasured her “table” and friends at the Bedford Heights 60+ Club, and her love of treats and thoughtful gestures will live on in their memories.

Sara Louise White Price was preceded in death by her husband, Charles R. Price; her brothers, Henry and Ferrier White; her parents, Fosterina and Henry White; and many dear friends who welcomed her home.

She leaves to cherish her memory, her loving daughter, Leslie Price; nephews Michael and Kipp White; a cousin, Jean Ann Stacey of Elyria; and a wide circle of friends and extended “family” who were blessed by her love, laughter, and light.

From her daughter, Leslie:

I was blessed with thirteen precious years with my mother after my father’s passing—years that allowed me to witness, up close, her unbreakable spirit, her humor, and her remarkable resilience in the face of life’s challenges. Caring for her in her final days was the greatest honor of my life, a full-circle expression of the love, devotion, and strength she gave me from the very beginning. She was, and will always be, my example, my heart, and my home.

The family prefers those who wish may make contributions in her name to the Hospice of the Western Reserve, The Elyria Black Legacy Connection or your charity of choice.

Funeral Services will be held at Brown-Forward, 17022 Chagrin Blvd., Shaker Hts., OH on Thursday, February 5 at 2pm. FRIENDS MAY CALL ON WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4TH FROM 4-6 PM AT THE FUNERAL HOME, OR ONE HOUR PRIOR TO THE SERVICE.

Interment, Highland Park Cemetery, Cleveland, OH.