Katherine E. Price was an American philanthropist and patroness of various Catholic institutions. In 1936,

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

granted her the rank of papal countess.

Biography

Price was the wife of Lucian B. Price. After her husband's death, she became an active philanthropist, funding the construction of Catholic churches, schools, and other institutions in the United States. She was a distant cousin of Bishop Eugene J. McGuinness. A patroness of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Amarillo The Diocese of Amarillo () is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic church in the Texas Panhandle region in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese of the metropolitan Archdiocese of San Antonio. The mother church of the Diocese of Amarillo ...

, Price donated funds to St. George's College to prevent the school from closing. It was renamed the Price Memorial College in honor of her late husband. Price traveled from her home in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich ( ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 63,518. It is the largest town on Gold Coast (Connecticut), Connectic ...

, to Texas for the dedication ceremony. Price was also responsible for funding the construction of St. Elizabeth's Catholic Church in

Lubbock, Texas Lubbock ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Lubbock County. With a population of 272,086 in 2024, Lubbock is the 10th-most populous city in Texas and the 84th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the ...

, St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church in

Pauls Valley, Oklahoma Pauls Valley is a city in and the county seat of Garvin County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 5,992 at the 2020 census, a decline of 3.2 percent from the figure of 6,187 in 2010. It was settled by and named for Smith Paul, a North ...

, and St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church in

Wake Forest, North Carolina Wake Forest is a town in Wake and Franklin counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located almost entirely in Wake County, it lies just north of the state capital, Raleigh. At the 2020 census, the population was 47,601, up from 30,117 in ...

. The latter two churches were named after Price's patron saint,

Catherine of Siena Caterina di Jacopo di Benincasa (25 March 1347 – 29 April 1380), known as Catherine of Siena, was an Italian mystic and pious laywoman who engaged in papal and Italian politics through extensive letter-writing and advocacy. Canonized in 1461, ...

. In April 1936, Price was elevated into the Nobility of the Holy See and made a papal countess by

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Price, Katherine E 20th-century American philanthropists 20th-century Roman Catholics Catholics from Connecticut Papal countesses Patrons of schools People from Greenwich, Connecticut Roman Catholic Diocese of Amarillo 20th-century American women philanthropists