RAYMOND ALEXANDER PRICE

O.C., Ph.D., D.Sc., LL.D., F.R.S.C., N.A.S. (U.S.A.), P.Eng. Internationally acclaimed geologist with awards from Germany, France, the UK and USA Penrose Medal Died peacefully, at Kingston Health Science Centre on Wednesday, October 16, 2024. Leaving behind his beloved wife of 68 years, Mina; children, Paul Price (Carole) , Patricia Van Huesen and Linda Price-Bennett; grandchildren, Stasia Bennett (Jon) and Joel Bennett (Katie); great-grandchildren, Eddy, Willa and Owen, Lisa Bennett (Fulya), Eva Bennett (Travis) , Hannah Bennett, Rachel Bennett and Moriah Bennett; and his sister-in-law, Jo-Anne Price. Ray was predeceased by his brother, Don. Ray was born and raised in the ethnically diverse and culturally rich working-class "North End" district of Winnipeg. His father, Alexander F. Price (Prysiaznuik), and his mother, Edith Olga (Arlt) Price, were born in Winnipeg's North End shortly after their parents had arrived in Winnipeg from two different parts of eastern Europe. Ray's elementary and junior high school education was in Michael Faraday School, less than one block from his home on Mountain Avenue. There he became fascinated with physics and chemistry. In 1950, he graduated from Isaac Newton High School (the alma mater of both of his parents) with the Governor-General's Medal for academic achievement. At the University of Manitoba, Ray enrolled in the required introductory BSc science courses in mathematics, physics, and chemistry and in an optional introductory course in geology that was presented by a legendary teacher, Professor E.I. (Ed) Leith. It was in that course that Ray met Mina Geurds, his classmate and future wife. After completing only one introductory course in geology, Ray had the good fortune to obtain summer employment as a junior assistant in the Geological Survey of Canada field crew of Dr. Geoffrey B. Leech. Working and living in the Purcell Mountains of southeastern British Columbia, the 19-year-old 'boy' from the flat prairies of southern Manitoba was intrigued and enthralled by the majesty and mystery of the mountains; and amazed that geologists had no really plausible explanation of how and why the mountains were created. Geoff Leech carefully nurtured Ray's interest in geology by providing him with special opportunities to contribute his own independent observations and measurements to the geological research project. By the end of that field season, Ray's focus for future scientific study had begun to shift from physics and chemistry to geology, and to the origin of the mountains of western Canada. During the summers of 1953, 1954 and 1955, he was a Geological Survey of Canada field assistant in the southern BC Rockies, the Precambrian Shield of northern Saskatchewan, and the southern Foothills of Alberta, respectively. In 1954, after two summers in the mountains, Ray contributed a short article titled, "Whence The Mountains" to the Faculty of Science Students' publication "The Question Mark." In this article, he emphasized the lack of a credible scientific explanation for the origin and evolution of mountains. Ray and Mina graduated from the University of Manitoba with Bachelor of Sciences (Honours) degrees in 1955; Ray received the University Gold Medal in Sciences; and he also was awarded a fellowship for post-graduate studies in the Department of Geology at Princeton University. During Ray's1955 field season with the Geological Survey of Canada in the southern Alberta Foothills, and his first year of PhD studies at Princeton, Mina was employed as a petroleum geologist by California Standard (now Chevron) in Regina. During the 1956 and 1957 field seasons, Ray was employed by the Geological Survey of Canada to explore and describe the stratigraphy, structure, and geological evolution of a segment of the Rocky Mountains along the Continental Divide at North Kootenay Pass. Ray's Ph.D. thesis was based on this Geological Survey of Canada geological-mapping research project. Ray and Mina were married in Winnipeg in September 1956 (after the 1956 field season!). They enjoyed living in the Princeton University geology graduate student community, but were eager to have a home in Canada. In the spring of 1958, after Ray had completed his PhD degree requirements, they moved to Ottawa where Ray began full-time employment as a research scientist with the Geological Survey of Canada (the GSC), working mainly on the geological exploration and mapping in the Rocky Mountains, initially in the vicinity of the International Boundary and the Crowsnest Pass, and subsequently northward to Kicking Horse Pass and Yellowhead Pass; he also spent one summer as a participant in Operation Porcupine, the helicopter-supported regional geological exploration and mapping of the mountains of northern Yukon and adjacent parts of the Northwest Territories. In 1968, Ray began his teaching career in the Department of Geological Sciences at Queen's University. At Queen's he continued to work on the preparation of GSC geological maps and structure-sections that were based upon his GSC fieldwork in the southern Canadian Rockies. He integrated this with his supervision of graduate-student research projects that involved fieldwork in southeastern British Columbia, southwestern Alberta and also in adjacent parts of the U.S.A. Ray was the recipient of International awards, including The officer of the Order of Canada; Officier de l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques, France 1988; Foreign Associate, USA National Academy of Sciences, 1988; The Leopold von Buch Medal, Deutsche Geologische Gesellschaft, Germany, 1988; D. F. Hewett Lecturer, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 1988; Honorary Foreign Fellow, European Union of Geosciences, 1989; Major Edward d'Ewes Fitzgerald Coke Medal, Geological Society, London, England, 1989; Muan distinguished Lecturer, Pennsylvania State University, 1993; Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1997; The Michael T. Halbouty Human Needs Award, American Association of Petroleum Geologists, 1997; John P. Buwalda Lecturer, California Institute of Technology, 1998; McFarlan Lecturer, University of Kentucky, 2004; and The Penrose Medal, Geological Society of America, 2012. To celebrate Ray's life, the family invite friends to gather for a Mass of Christian Burial to be held at St. Mary's Cathedral ( 279 Johnson Street) on Friday, October 18th, at 10 a.m. Rev. Fr Shawn Hughes Celebrant. Cremation to follow. Memorial donations, for those wishing, may be made to the Alzheimer Society. Online book of condolences at www.ReidFuneralHome.com.