It’s a sad day at the NCHSAA as the Association lost two coaching greats over the weekend, both passing away after brief battles with pancreatic cancer. Eddie Dees, a State Champion Softball coach at South View High School, and his contemporary Donald David Price, an athletic director at Mount Airy High School with roots in coaching, both succumbed to the disease over the weekend.
“It truly is difficult to grasp that the same disease claimed the lives of two great coaches and men of the NCHSAA over the weekend,” said NCHSAA Commissioner Que Tucker. “Our hearts ache for the families, former players, co-workers and communities impacted by the loss of Eddie Dees and Donald Price. Their work speaks for itself through their dedication to excellence and equipping student-athletes to be valuable contributors to society. Their presence in their respective communities and in the NCHSAA will be greatly missed.”
Donald David Price passed away at age 52. He was a graduate of Monroe High School before he continued his education and football career at Appalachian State. Price served as Mount Airy’s athletic director since 2003 and the Granite Bears saw a tremendous amount of success under his leadership. Since Price took the A.D. role, Mount Airy has amassed 40 conference championships, 38 individual state championships and 10 team state titles. Just this year Price was inducted into the Greater Mount Airy Sports Hall of Fame and was tapped as the North Carolina Soccer Coaches Association as the group’s Athletic Director/Administrator of the year.
According to the Mount Airy News, the funeral service will be held Tuesday, June 21, 2016, at 1:00 PM at Mount Airy High School Gymnasium. The family will receive friends Monday, June 20, 2016, from 5:00 until 8:00 PM at Moody Funeral Home in Mount Airy.
In lieu of flowers the family requests memorial contributions be made to The Mount Airy Youth Foundation, P.O. Box 6353, Mount Airy, NC 27030; Shelton Church of the Brethren, 1065 Quaker Road, Mount Airy, NC 27030; or the Joan and Howard Woltz Hospice Home, 945 Zephyr Road, Dobson, NC 27017.
Eddie Dees passed away at age 62 in the early hours of Monday morning. Dees not only led South View to a slow-pitch State Championship in 1993, he took Freedom Christian Academy to a 2A Private School fast-pitch State Championship this past year. Dees was not just a great coach, he served as the mayor of Hope Mills and was awarded the North Carolina order of the Long Leaf Pine in 2009. He has been inducted into the North Carolina Softball Coaches Hall of Fame as well as the Hall of Fame for the Fayetteville Sports Club.
According to the Fayetteville Observer, Lafayette Funeral Home on Raeford Road is handling funeral arrangements. The visitation will be held on Wednesday from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. at South View High School. The service will be held at Southview Baptist Church on a date to be announced.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Eddie Dees Foundation at First South or Friends of the Cancer Center.
