Ida Blackmon Callaway

Ida Blackmon Callaway, age 106 and a longtime resident of Bon Secour and Gulf Shores, passed away peacefully on Monday, May 29, 2017. Ms. Ida was born February 23, 1911 as the third of four daughters to James Blackmon and Clara Dean Blackmon of Bay Minette, AL. The four daughters were raised on a small but successful family farm. Education was valued strongly in the Blackmon household, and after high school all four daughters attended the Daphne Normal School. Ms. Ida completed the two-year program and became a full-time classroom teacher at the age of 20. Education proved to be God’s calling for her life.  Shortly after beginning her teaching career in northern Baldwin County, she took a placement at the one-room Bon Secour School which was on present-day Plash Island. As the only teacher in the school, she simultaneously taught children aged 5 to 15. While teaching in the small community, she met Houston Callaway, a local fisherman, whom she would marry in 1937. The couple would relocate across the Bon Secour River when the school system consolidated the Bon Secour School with the Swift School in 1939. In the 1950s Ms. Ida completed her Bachelor’s degree from Livingston State Teachers College. She would continue teaching at the Swift School until 1981 when she reached the state’s mandatory retirement age. However, Ms. Ida did not stay out of the classroom, continuing to serve as a substitute teacher in the district for another 25 years. Over the course of 75 years of teaching in Baldwin County, Ms. Ida guided generations of students with her skillful balance of a sweet spirit and nurturing discipline. Ms. Ida also faithfully served the living Christ through her life.  Her witness of faithfulness and ministry was exemplary at Oyster Bay Baptist Church where she leaves many dear friends who assisted her in participation of worship and service. Ms. Ida also established a scholarship program within the congregation to assist students as they pursued higher education. Ms. Ida was a pillar of the Bon Secour community, the matriarch of the Callaway family, and an inspiration to all. She was preceded in death by her husband, Houston Callaway.  She is survived by her two sons: James  Callaway (Shirley), Warren Callaway (Sandy); four grandchildren, Katrina Callaway, Leah Merschman (Jeff), Brian Callaway, Pamela Gates (Andrew);  three great-grandchildren, Jenna, Grant, Bradley Merschman. A celebration of life will be held at 12 noon on Thursday, June 1, 2017 at Oyster Bay Baptist Church; 4280 Plash Road; Gulf Shores, AL 36542. The family will receive friends on Thursday from 10am until the time of the service. Interment will follow at the Oyster Bay Baptist Church Cemetery.   In lieu of flowers, the family requests that a Ms. Ida remembrance gift be made to the Building Fund of Oyster Bay Baptist Church. ARRANGEMENTS BYWOLFE-BAYVIEWFUNERAL HOMES& CREMATORY, INC.2551 SO. MCKENZIET ST.FOLEY, AL.  36532(251) 990-7775