Tommie Williams Calhoun

Tommie Lou Williams Calhoun, 86, died Tuesday, February 6, at Croasdaile Retirement Community. She was born September 29, 1937, in Etowah, Arkansas, to JD and Hazel (nee Taylor) Williams.

She graduated from Memphis State University, where she met her eventual husband James E. Calhoun, and began teaching English in Bolton, TN. In 1960 she and Jimmy married in Memphis. The couple moved to Missouri and eventually to Urbana, IL, where they continued their teaching careers. As an English educator at Urbana Junior High School, she earned her master’s degree in reading instruction at the University of Illinois, and then taught reading at the junior high and high school levels.

Tommie’s strong, enduring Christian faith led her to serve God in a variety of ways. She often opened her home and dinner table to many people. As a member of Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church, she took on many roles including WMU missions leader, Sunday school teacher and supporter of the All Nations Baptist Church where she led conversational English, vocabulary, reading and pronunciation classes. She also ministered to those in need through her mission work and financial support of the Christian Activity Center in East St. Louis and the Charles Colson Prison Ministry. She served on a mission trip to Kazakhstan and sponsored immigrant families, forming strong relationships with several Vietnamese families. She was also faithful with leading and helping provide church services at nursing homes and assisted-living residences in both Illinois and North Carolina.

A mother of three, grandmother of six, and a great-grandmother of six, Tommie loved her family dearly. Her devotion to Jimmy showed through as she cared for him at home as he suffered from and eventually succumbed to Alzheimer’s and kidney disease.

She enjoyed gardening and appreciated the beauty of most plants and flowers. However, not much surpassed her love of reading.

Tommie is survived by her children, Scott (Tracy) Calhoun of Coal Valley, IL; Julie (David) Stoops of Durham, NC; and Joseph (Cheryl) Calhoun of Irvine, CA; her grandchildren Lindsay (Ann DeLorenzo) Calhoun, Laurel (Aaron) Dean, Hannah (Chase) Thompson, Linnea Stoops, and Emma Stoops; great-grandchildren Dylan and Emmitt Dean, Nina and Jude Calhoun-DeLorenzo, Owen Thompson, and her 7th great-grandchild John Thompson due in March. Tommie is also survived by her siblings Jackie Harris and Taylor Williams and 9 nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her husband Jimmy Calhoun, her grandson Caleb Calhoun, and her great-granddaughter Cate Calhoun-DeLorenzo.

A visitation will be held at 1 PM with funeral services at 2 PM Sunday, February 18 at Hope Valley Baptist Church, Durham, NC, with the Rev. Benjamin Wines officiating. Burial will be in Maplewood Cemetery, Durham, NC.

Memorial donations may be made to Hope Valley Baptist Church (please specify capital campaign), 6900 Garrett Rd. Durham, NC 27707; Durham Rescue Mission (durhamrescuemission.org); or American Lung Association (Lung.org).