Marilee McCallister

The kith and kin of Callaway

Jay Hickman is C&R Market's new manager. He's glad to be working in Fulton once more after years of hour-long commutes.
Jay Hickman is C&R Market's new manager. He's glad to be working in Fulton once more after years of hour-long commutes.

This new column serves as a spotlight, highlighting the everyday people who work and live in Callaway County. Every week, the Fulton Sun will take a moment to have a conversation with someone who is not usually featured in the news, but is just as instrumental in making our community the strong and beautiful place we all know and love.

Marilee McCallister came to Fulton in 1961. As the wife of the late pastor Raymond McCallister Jr., founder of First Christian Church's bell choir and a longtime music teacher, she's known and beloved by many in the community. McCallister has two children and three grandchildren. Church members gathered Sunday to throw her a going-away reception, as McCallister prepares to move to a retirement center.

Q. What was your first job?

A. My first job out of college - I attended DePauw - was teaching junior high and high school choral music in Connecticut while my husband was at Yale.

Q. Who most inspires you (living or dead)?

A. There are so many from this church alone! One of the first was Ruth Berry, a first-grade teacher, who influenced me and a lot of other people in this community.

Q. What have you done in life that was most fulfilling?

A. Teaching elementary music within the public school system for 15 years. I love working with children and seeing them grow.

Q. What is something you are proud of that you have been recognized for?

A. I worked on my masters degree in education at Mizzou and received it when I was 48. I think that's a little impressive.

Q. What profession, other than your own, would you like to attempt?

A. I thought about going into nursing. My dad was a veterinarian in Indiana, and I always found medicine to be interesting. It just didn't work out that way.

Q. What profession would you not like to do?

A. Umpiring a baseball game.

Q. What is something that nobody knows about you?

I'm not going to tell you. Really, I'm an open book. I'm not sure there is anything people don't know about me.

Q.What is your favorite thing about Callaway County?

A. The people here are very friendly.