Rebecca Lu Price

Rebecca Lu Price was born the third of four daughters to Robert Wesley and Jeanene Lois (Alcorn) McQuown on October 22, 1953. Her sisters are Darla Jo (Jody) Drake, Linda Carol Ribbing and Patricia Ellen (Trish)Wilhelm.

Becky spent her early years in Momence, Illinois, doing fun things with her family like board games, music, art and reading. Her favorite books at this time were The Little Red Hen and The Secret Garden.

In 1968 the family moved to O'Fallon, Illinois, as her Dad took a new job in St. Louis, working for the Missouri Pacific Railroad. O'Fallon High School had a great band program, and Becky was lucky enough to play one of the 17 piccolos that the school owned.

In 1969 the family moved again to Columbia, Illinois, to shorten her Dad's commute time. This is where Becky and her sister Linda made lifelong friends. Becky was able to add art classes to her schedule and found that she enjoyed drawing and making intaglio prints.

After graduating in 1971, Becky headed to Western Illinois University, where she majored in Industrial Technology and Education, with a minor in Art. While working at the Fort Drive-In theater in Macomb, Becky met her first husband, David Wiley Price. After graduation they bought a house in David's hometown of Chillicothe, Illinois. Becky was a draftsman at several small manufacturing firms that made enclosures for Caterpillar Generator sets.

In 1976 David joined the Air Force to finish his college degree, and they spent one year in Fairbanks, Alaska. Their apartment was in a small town called North Pole, Alaska.

Upon their return to Chillicothe in 1977, Becky went back to working as a mechanical draftsman for a contractor of Caterpillar.

In 1980 Becky had their first baby, Travis Jason Price. She decided to stay home with him and enjoyed getting together with other young moms at church, singing in the choir, making quilts, bowling, baking and cooking together. She and Cathy Schad became fast friends, and Cathy even lived with her for a time in Liberty, Missouri, 27 years later!

In 1982 Becky opened a needlework store named Knitpickers, where she sold yarn, counted cross stitch, framing, and knitting machines. Their second and last child, Lindsey Jo Price, came along in late 1983. In 1990 she closed the store due to a lengthy UAW strike and when Becky's sister Linda was diagnosed with breast cancer. Linda had made most of the cross-stitch store models for Knitpickers.

In 1991 Becky went back to drafting for Caterpillar and even learned AutoCad, which was way more interesting than ink on Mylar had been.

Becky and David divorced in 1992, and after Linda's death in 1994, Becky and the kids moved to Kansas City to live closer to her sister Jody and family.

After working for a sheet metal company for one year, Becky took an AutoCad job at the Broadway Collection, drawing high-end brass door hardware and plumbing fixtures. This is where she met her mentor and friend, Candy Mitchell. By 1997 Candy had moved on to AlliedSignal and found Becky a job there as a Supplier Quality Engineer. This is where Becky met Brian S. Johnson, who introduced her to his dad, Bradley R. Johnson-who turned out to be the love of her life!

Becky and Brad married in 1999, and for the next 15 years, did fun things like riding Brad's Harley-Davidson; theatre trips to New York City and London; starting a Suzuki violin school; becoming partners in a B&B in Liberty, Missouri; restoring an 1890 Queen Anne Victorian; restoring a 1930 Mission Shirtwaist house in Brookside-and moving many, many times!

Brad also helped Becky in her upholstery business, helped her sister Trish move to Cleveland, and helped Becky's kids and friends with many moves and projects.

After AlliedSignal bought Honeywell in 1999, Becky worked for them until after 9/11/01, when Honeywell laid off many employees. Becky landed a job with a Canadian company named Noranco, which supplied sheet metal and machined parts to Honeywell. She worked for them until 2015 at the Honeywell facility.

Becky was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004. It spread to her liver in 2005, and she underwent many treatments over the next 15 years. She endured the loss of Brad to lung cancer in 2014. Through all of that time, she bravely shared news of progress and difficult setbacks with her loved ones, selflessly offering them comfort and assurance. She was quick to tell them, "I'm a lover-not a fighter." Becky didn't battle cancer; she continued living her best life and never ceased to inspire her friends and family with her dignity, strength and grace.

Becky was preceded in death by her father Robert McQuown, husband Brad Johnson and sister Linda. She is survived by her mother Jeanene McQuown; son Travis Price and his wife Julie Price; daughter Lindsey Roe and her husband Jason Roe; stepchildren Brian Johnson and Leigh Anne Benedict; sisters Jody Drake and Trish Wilhelm; and grandsons Julian Roe, Blake Price and Bradley Price.

Memorial Service will be held Thursday, January 2, 2020 at the Amos Family Funeral Home in Shawnee, Kansas.

Memorials may be made to the Heartstrings Community Foundation, which helps adults with developmental disabilities, 11599 S. Ridgeview Rd., Olathe KS 66061.