Funeral, wake information announced for former NPC waiter Andrew Price

Andrew Price, a much-loved waiter at the National Press Club who retired Aug. 3 after 45 years of service, died Friday of a heart attack, his family said. He was 66.

The family will hold a wake Friday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Stewart Funeral Homes at 4001 Benning Road, NE, Washington, D.C. 20019.

A funeral service will be held Saturday, May 4 at noon at the Church of the Holy Trinity, 4628 Minnesota Ave, NE, Washington, D.C., 20019.

Mr. Price grew up in Scotland Neck, N.C., and came to Washington in his late teens, working first as a dishwasher at the Shoreham Hotel and later at the Heritage House restaurant in Georgetown.

Mr. Price started as a busboy at the Club on Aug. 3, 1967 but rose through the ranks to become the Club’s head waiter in the 1980s. He served the Club’s most esteemed guests, including several U.S. presidents and a few royals, at the Speakers Luncheon head table.

President Gerald R. Ford visited the Club so many times that he came to know Mr. Price by name. Once, according to 2011 NPC President Mark Hamrick, Mr. Price served Ford a dessert.

“Mr. Price,” the former president teased, “you are a bad man.”
Mr. Price once served baseball great Hank Aaron, 1984 NPC President John Fogarty recalled.

“I remember Aaron and Andrew talking at the reception as though they were old friends even though they had just met,” Fogarty said. “That is the way it was with Andrew. The minute you met him, you became his friend and he became yours.”

Mr. Price worked his final club luncheon featuring PBS news anchors Gween Ifill and Judy Woodruff on July 24, 2012. He received a standing ovation for his 45 years of service.

“Andrew was universally loved and respected,” 1998 NPC President Doug Harbrecht said. “He set the standard for dignity and professionalism.”

Former Club President Arthur E.F. Wiese said Mr. Price exhibited loyalty, responsibility and professionalism during his years of service.

“Some people have an inherent dignity about them,” Wiese said. “It just seems to be part of the fabric of their personalities. Mr. Price is one of those people – quiet, self-effacing, soft-spoken, even shy but tremendously dignified.”

1986 NPC President Mary Kay Quinlan says she’ll remember Mr. Price’s smile.

“It has been years since I was a Club regular, but to this day, I cannot recall anyone else I’ve ever known who always wore a smile. Always,” she said.

Mr. Price is survived by his wife, Bessie, one son, Andre, and many brothers and sisters. Another son died in 2008.