Eugene (Gene) Craven Callaway's Obituary
Eugene (Gene) Craven Callaway of Germantown-Kirby Pines, artist, educator, genealogist and ballroom dancer died February 7, 2019 after a year and a half long illness. Gene was born in Tupelo, MS December 23, 1931. Upon graduation from high school and business school he entered the Air Force during the Korean conflict and served in Korea in 1951. While in the Air Force he attended Bowling Green State University, Ohio and Kansas City Missouri Junior College. When discharged from the Air Force he returned to the University of Memphis where he received his B.S., M.A. and post-graduate degrees. While he was at the University he was a member of Delta Sigma Pi and Phi Delta Kappa fraternities.After graduation he was employed in the Accounting Department of Ford Motor Company. When the company left Memphis, he entered the education field serving as a teacher and principal for 34 years. A dedicated and popular teacher and Principal he garnered respect from generations of students and served as an invaluable mentor to all he taught. His loyalty to Kingsbury and White Station students continued after his retirement, attending many of their class reunions. He taught business subjects at Kingsbury High School and night classes at Memphis State University, served as Asst. Principal of White Station High School and principal of Bethel Grove and Cromwell Elementary Schools.As a teenager Gene became interested in historical and genealogical research. This led him to become a charter and lifetime member of the Callaway Family Assn., Inc. Since 1975 he has served in several leadership capacities, Board of Directors, Vice President, and President from 1993 to 1996. He was a member of the Shelby Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution, the Robert E. Lee Chapter, Sons of the Confederacy, the Clan McLeod Society, and the Tennessee Genealogical Society.Upon retirement, Gene became an accomplished artist, a ballroom and tap dancer and was known by his friends as “twinkle toes” Callaway. He served as a volunteer historical archivist at the Hunt Phelan home and painted two portraits of Col. William R. Hunt and his wife, Sara Elizabeth Driver Hunt. He was a member of the Memphis Germantown Art League and the Bartlett Art Assn. Currently his paintings are in private collections, churches, museums and the Callaway Archives of LaGrange, GA.He will be remembered as a kind and gentle Christian man by his wife, Sara Bennett Callaway, as well as the many students he taught and his fellow teachers with whom he was associated during his career as an educator. As a member of Emmanuel United Methodist Church for over 40 years he served in many capacities, Sunday School Teacher, Fisherman Group, Usher, Noiseful Joys Chorus, and building houses.Gene is survived by his wife, Sara, a godson, Alexander H. Evans, III, Franklin, TN; three nieces, Karla Callaway Roland, Blue Springs, MS, Kimberly Hodnett, Tupelo, MS and Katherine Melton of Belden, MS. Gene was preceded in death by his parents, Clarence and Mary Ellen Craven Callaway, a brother, Everett Callaway, and his beloved daughter, Sara Elizabeth Callaway.Services will be held on Monday, February 11, 2019 at 12:00 p.m. at Emmanuel United Methodist Church with visitation before the service beginning at 11:00 a.m. Interment will follow in Memorial Park Cemetery. In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to the charity of the donor’s choice.Arrangements have been entrusted to Memorial Park Funeral Home and Cemetery, 5668 Poplar Ave., Memphis, TN 38119 (901) 767-8930. “Celebrating Life… Behind the Stone Wall”. Service details and obituary will be posted as soon as they become available.
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