Above / Among many initiatives, Mayor Margaret “Peg” Price will be remembered for establishing the annual State of the City Address, an event she later attended when Mayor George Pradel gave the address for 20 years.
April 8, 1933, to April 26, 2020. Margaret “Peg” Price.
Dedicated Naperville Citizen. Avid Reader. Political Enthusiast. Outspoken. Prudent Public Servant. City Councilwoman. Mayor. Riverwalk Commissioner.
Steadfast for 87 years, Peg Price died in the comfort of St. Patrick’s Residence.
Daughter of Paul and Margaret Nelson of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Peg married classmate and childhood sweetheart Chuck Price in 1953.
After Chuck’s employment with Western Electric Company / Lucent Technologies took them to New Jersey, the Prices were transferred to Naperville in 1967 with their two young sons.
Preceded in death by her husband, Peg was the devoted mother of Steven (Pam) Price and Timothy (Debra) Price, both of Naperville; and grandmother of Amanda (Joe) Arand and Scott Price.
In addition to spending holidays and vacations with her sister Jane and brother Jerry, Peg also enjoyed family reunions with the late Joseph and Ragna (nee Bandoli) Price, Richard (Dreema) Price, David (Phyllis) Price, Edith (the late Robert) Glomsky, Mary (the late Dexter) Defnet, Michael (Ginny) Price and Joseph (Laura) Price on her husband’s side of the family.
First woman Mayor of Naperville
Never a stranger to leadership, Peg became the first woman Mayor of Naperville, serving from 1983 to 1991, with stints on the Naperville City Council before and after two terms as Mayor.
As mayor, Peg was the first woman to regularly attend Rotary Club of Naperville meetings; and when women were welcomed as members in 1987, Peg joined Rita Harvard to become one of the first two women to officially join the service club.
Mayor Price is credited during her term for starting the State of the City Address, now an annual event for the current mayor to recap the past year’s events with a look toward the future.
“Jack Romaine (also a member of the Rotary Club of Naperville at the time) was president of the Chamber back then,” Peg said recently. “Jack came up with the idea of State of the City to benefit the Chamber.”
Reminiscing about arriving in Naperville when the City was poised for growth and development, Peg recounted times with the Maplebrook II Home Owner’s Association, Naperville Area Homeowners Confederation, League of Women Voters, political campaigns, Loaves & Fishes at St. Raphael’s as well as many charity golf outings and fundraisers. She recalled that under her watch the City planned the Naperville Municipal Center and set up its water utility.
Among many projects that made a difference, she said she especially enjoyed working back in the 1980s with Frank Sweeney, a CPA at Moser Enterprises, on an initiative for North Central College to help institute a leadership, ethics and values program.
Peg also appreciated the can-do volunteer spirit that created many important local assets, including the development the Riverwalk for the City’s sesquicentennial anniversary.
In lieu of visitation, Peg asks that well-wishers take a few minutes “to call a friend.”
Arrangements will be handled by Friedrich-Jones Funeral Home. No services are planned.
Memorials may be made to the Naperville Riverwalk Foundation. Naperville Riverwalk Foundation, Naperville Municipal Center, 400 S. Eagle Street, Naperville, IL 60540. (Note: City Staff is working remotely. If sending a memorial check, please expect a delay in bank processing. Thanks.)
