It was 1972 . . . a Sunday in April when Don Price and his brother Laverne decided to go swimming at Pickwick Lake. Don was finishing up his Junior year at Central High School in Savannah and had been voted Most Athletic and Best All Around by the students there. A star athlete on the basketball court as well as the football field, he had just been named to the All West State and All Volunteer conferences . . . basically his whole life was ahead and the road that lay before him seemed to be one that would lead to success. At least it was until that Sunday in April of 1972.
It was on that day that Don Price drowned. His brother watched helplessly as it happened and, although other swimmers frantically began searching for him, 30 minutes passed before he was found. Thirty long minutes from which there was no coming back.
It was a tragic ending to a life that had been filled with adversity and perseverance. When Don was only four the home in which he and his family were living burned. Running to his grandparents he sounded the alarm as best a four-year old can . . . “the walls are on fire”. When his grandmother realized what was happening, she frantically told her husband and he rushed to the house, knowing there were other children inside. He saved one. He perished with the other. They were buried close together in Savannah Cemetery.
At Don’s death he joined his grandfather and brother in those hallowed grounds. Six years later his brother Charles died and was buried with them. His grandmother Hollie followed in 1982 and his mother Jimmie Ruth in 1993.
Fast forward to the summer of 2024. The Savannah Cemetery Tour Committee was planning their annual Living History Tour and thought Don Price would be an excellent resident to feature, but a thorough search of the cemetery brought only confusion. A monument was found for his mother, but the rest of the family had vanished, lost to time in unmarked graves—something that amazed and saddened those on the tour when they were told a man who willingly gave his life trying to save a child and another who lived his life as a role model for those around him had no stones to commemorate their passing. Research into Don’s life and conversations with his extended family told the rest of his story. The obvious success he experienced on the football field and the basketball court, and his leadership among the students and community, hid the fact that Don’s family often struggled financially. Their home didn’t even have running water, so every morning he would arrive at school early enough to shower in the locker room before going to class. It was understandable no monuments had been purchased during those difficult years.
As news that the family’s graves were unmarked spread, members of the Class of ’73—the class with which Don would have graduated—took matters into their own hands. And the Class of ’74 joined the effort by giving members the opportunity to contribute to the cause during their 50th class reunion. Couple that with financial assistance from Memory Gardens of Hardin County, through whom the monuments were sold, and Shackelford Funeral Directors, and the improbable became possible. After 66 years, the graves of John Hamilton “Ham” Prim and his grandson David are now marked, as is the grave of Ham’s wife Hollie. After 52 years, Don Price has a permanent memorial to proclaim his final resting place. And his brother Charles is no longer forgotten. Each monument was set in the appropriate place, thanks to a family member who still knew the location of the missing graves.
