Polly Helene Price Potter, born December 24, 1941; died February 20, 2018 from causes related to Parkinson's disease.
Polly was born in San Jose, California to Clara Jane "Kelly" Sterzer Price and Douglas LeRoy "Roy" Price. She grew up in California and Utah, graduated from Bountiful High School and the University of Utah, and later earned a master's degree in gifted education from Utah State University.
Polly was a skillful and empathetic elementary school teacher, a lover of the environment, and a champion for equality. She was intelligent, kind, and no-nonsense; a supportive, strict, and humorous mother, wife, and grandmother. She loved working in her garden, reading, and was convinced that red shoes made anyone run faster.
As an educational specialist in the Berkeley, Calif., School District in the 1960s, she worked on EPOCH, a federally-funded program to teach positive race relations to the newly integrated students. She was among the first teachers in the state of Utah to receive a gifted and talented endorsement on her teaching certificate and was instrumental in designing the gifted and talented programs in both Granite and Salt Lake districts. A key element of her teaching was always awareness of the planet's resources and how people could best protect them. The University of Utah gave her its Outstanding School Teacher Award in 2002, and in 2006 the Utah Association for Gifted Children named her its Outstanding Educator.
Polly was constantly teaching, whether it was in the classroom or writing letters that helped her grandchildren learn to read. She effectively taught so her students could walk out of her class and immediately use their new skills.
She is survived by her husband, Wester Schow Potter; daughters Elisabeth "Libby" Potter Boss (Scott), Meghan Potter Cannon (Daniel), and Paige Kathleen Potter; grandchildren Beth, Sarah, and Andrew Boss and Chloe, John, and Pippa Cannon; and her brothers, Kelly Roy Price and Tony Price (Joyce).
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, March 3, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. at the Yalecrest Ward, 1035 S. 1800 E. in SLC. Visitations will be held at the ward on Friday evening, March 2 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. and Saturday 10:00-10:45 a.m.
