[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 192 (Thursday, December 17, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13379-S13380]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                         REMEMBERING SOL PRICE

 Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I am honored to remember Sol Price, 
who passed away on December 14, 2009, at the age of 93. Sol was a man 
of vision in business, charity, and community. I will remember his 
great accomplishments, but I will also remember him as a wonderful man 
and a dear friend.
  A trendsetter in retail, Sol Price founded FedMart and the Price 
Club, which subsequently sparked the wholesale warehouse industry. He 
envisioned providing consumers with products at low prices while 
providing good wages and working conditions for his employees. When 
FedMart opened its first

[[Page S13380]]

store in San Antonio, TX, in 1957, Sol Price paid double the minimum 
wage. He also succeeded getting a mortgage company to drop its 
requirement on separate restroom facilities for ``Colored'' and 
``Whites.''
  Sol Price was a leader in philanthropy and education. In 1991, after 
the death of his grandson Aaron, he established the Price Fellows 
program for young people in San Diego County, with a mission to enrich 
their lives and encourage stewardship for their community. The 3-year 
program for high school students teaches them about business, cultural 
institutions, and government; it also encourages lasting relationship 
across different ethnic, religious, and economic backgrounds. This 
program has created a new generation of local leaders in government, 
business, and civic life.
  In 2000, Sol and his wife Helen set up the San Diego Revitalization 
Corporation, which was later renamed Price Charities. The end goal is 
to improve the lives of the urban poor. Among his many commitments, Sol 
worked to revitalize City Heights, a neighborhood in the city of San 
Diego that was a poor, high-crime but diverse community. In partnership 
with the city of San Diego, he built low-income housing and commercial 
space for community organizations and attracted businesses that would 
not otherwise have located in City Heights.
  Sol was a member of the board of trustees for the Urban Institute in 
Washington, DC, the board of directors for the Center on Budget and 
Policy Priorities, the Consumer Affairs Advisory Committee of the U.S. 
Securities and Exchange Commission, and the San Diego Financial Review 
Panel.
  Born in the Bronx, NY, Sol Price grew up in San Diego. He graduated 
from San Diego State University in 1934 and earned a law degree in 1938 
from the University of Southern California.
  Sol will be dearly missed. There is no doubt that his spirit will 
live on, carried along by the people he helped, the neighborhoods he 
transformed, and the entrepreneurial path he blazed.
  He is survived by two sons, Robert and Larry, five grandchildren, and 
four great-grandchildren. My heart goes out to the family during this 
time of grief. They are in our thoughts and in our prayers.

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