Mrs. Callie Mae Barber Crosby

June 21, 1944 - March 6, 2021

The Life of Callie Mae Barber Crosby Callie Mae Barber Crosby was born in Cleveland, Ohio on June 21, 1944 to Samuel Barber Sr. and Margaret Mayo Barber. Callie passed on March 6, 2021 in Millbrook, Alabama. After her mother’s death in 1949, Callie and her brother Samuel Barber Jr. moved to Coosada, AL. She was raised by her beloved maternal grandparents Tom and Bessie Mayo. She grew up with her aunts, uncles and cousins as siblings. Driven by her thirst for knowledge Callie flourished academically and socially, she graduated as valedictorian of Sandtown High School’s Class of 1962. She also graduated with top honors of her class at Tuskegee University in 1966 with degrees in education and home economics, where Dr. Martin Luther King gave the commencement speech. During her college years, Callie also started her family; she married her high school sweetheart Joe Crosby on August 21, 1963 of fifty seven plus years and she gave birth to two daughters Daphne and Margaret (Peggy). Callie traveled the world with her family as a home economics teacher and wife of an Army Warrant officer. She lived and taught in Virginia, Japan, Germany, all while developing long-lasting and compassionate relationships with her students, colleagues, and family wherever she went. In 1985, she gained her master’s degree from San Francisco State University. She also worked at Army Research Center at The Presidio in San Francisco, CA. After her husband retired from the Army in 1986, she returned to her home state of Alabama, where she worked at the ROTC scholarship program at Maxwell Air Force Base. She later joined her husband in establishing the successful construction company, JB Crosby Inc. Callie supervised much of her family at JB Crosby, including her nieces Sonya, Jonnie Mae, Dora, Keina, Mesha, Sherrye, sister-in-law, Doris and Diane who also lived with the family her senior year and calls her mom. Callie was an adored and adoring wife, mother, sister, aunt, grandmother, and friend. She was known for her wide smile, sharp wit, and vibrant laugh that would light up any room she walked into. Her excellent cooking, astute sense of style, and natural charisma brought others into her orbit, but it was her generosity and warm spirit that kept them there for decades. Callie was preceded in passing by her grandparents, Tom and Bessie Mayo, her mother and father, Samuel Barber Sr. and Margaret Mayo Barber, her brother, Samuel Barber Jr. and beloved great aunt Emily "Fatmeat" Jackson, aunts & uncles Johnnie Mae Mayo Steven, Tom Mayo Jr., Callie Mayo Langford, Edward Mayo, Marvin Mayo, James Earl "Jimmy" Mayo. Callie is survived by her husband of 57 plus years Joe Crosby and her daughters, Daphne Crosby (Robert Berlin), Dr. Margaret Crosby-Arnold (Peggy), her granddaughter, Erin Eckstein, Doris "Sister" Mayo Cornelius, her cousins, Georgia “Skinny” Jackson and Joyce Williams who she grew up with as siblings, and her niece, Tiffani (Torin) Barber Dailey, grand nephews Torin & Taylor Nicholas Dailey, cousin Bernice, Debbie, Donnie, Renee, Dot, George, Cookie, Andrea, Wayne, Derrick, Chris & Jennifer Mayo, Sherrye & Janel Jackson Haywood, Bernice Slaton Crosby. She is loved by her brother/sister-in-laws, Doris Crosby Roberts, Sue (Murphy) Bonner, Grant Isom Crosby, Walter (Lula) Crosby, Mamie Crosby Long and Patricia Crosby Long; Vivian Crosby. Callie is also survived by her close friends and extended family; Dorothy Woolfolk, Carolyn Rhodes, Frazine Kennett Jones Taylor, Elvira Pritchett, Carolyn Reeves & Reeves Family. Callie was a mother to many and has a host of loving nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends who she loved as her own. She will always be in all our hearts forever. We love you! In lieu of Flowers please make a donation to: Lighthouse Baptist Church P.O. Box 944 Millbrook AL. 36054 A Memorial Service will take place for Callie Mae on Saturday, March 27, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. at Lighthouse Baptist Church, Millbrook Alabama.