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Family urges Marion council to honor WWI patrolman Laurie Price with memorial or street marker
Summary
Family members of Laurie Price recounted his wartime service and 1927 murder and asked Marion council to place a story plaque at his grave and to consider renaming nearby blocks or the roundabout; council asked staff to research legal and safety implications.
A family member representing the descendants of Laurie L. Price told the Marion City Council a detailed family history and asked officials to honor Price with a local memorial.
“We are Laurie Price’s family, and we are here to share Laurie’s story with you and honor him,” the family member said, recounting Price’s service as a private in World War I and later as the first motorcycle state patrolman to serve in Southern Illinois. The family described the 1927 abduction and murders of Price and his wife, Ethel, and said a state resolution already recognizes a portion of Route 13 in his memory.
The family asked the council to consider three actions: placing a story-interpretive plaque at Price’s grave in Marion City Cemetery, renaming the two northern blocks of North Carbon Street (from Route 13 to Hill Avenue) as Laurie Price Street, and naming the adjacent roundabout Laurie Price Roundabout. The speaker said the family still owns the six lots that once were Price’s home property and provided a map showing the site and the roundabout’s footprint.
Mayor Absher and other council members responded that a plaque near the sidewalk would be easier to maintain and safer than placing a memorial in the center of a roundabout, and that renaming a street can create address disruptions for local businesses and residents. “If we do something in the middle of the roundabout, eventually somebody’s gonna run through that roundabout and destroy it,” the mayor said, adding that staff should check legal and logistical details.
The council asked staff to research options and return with legal and procedural guidance, including whether a memorial sign similar to those placed along Route 13 would be allowable and the steps involved in renaming a roadway. The family provided informational folders for council members and said the 100th anniversary of the killings approaches in 15 months.
The council did not vote on any formal action during the meeting; the next step is for staff to report back on the legal and operational feasibility of the family’s proposals.
