APPLETON, Wis. — Phyllis Callaway of Appleton receives a lot of congratulations over the weekend and today for reaching the tender age of 100.
Along her life’s journey, Phyllis and her husband, Eugene “Cab” Callaway, raised four children who made names for themselves in business, golf and the arts.
In fact, Phyllis Callaway also got her 15 minutes of fame by speaking one line in the 1973 horror film “The Exorcist” from which she still gets royalty checks.
She also worked as a sales rep for Mary Kay cosmetics from age 50 until last year.
That’s an accomplishment for some who outlived her siblings.
If you look up the definition of “keep on moving” in the dictionary, there’s a good chance you’d find a picture of Phyllis Callaway.
At the age of 50, when many people are thinking about retirement, Phyllis Callaway became a Mary Kay sales rep. She held that job until last year. She says she kept going along, just because.
Callaway and her late husband, Eugene, raised three sons and a daughter while also working as a sales rep in her 50s before retiring last year at age 99.
Her kids have made names for themselves in business, sports and the arts. Phyllis and her daughter, Jeanne Finlay, say it was all made possible because Phyllis and her husband encouraged their kids.
Her daughter, Jeanne Finlay, was a professional singer in New York City in her 20s and appeared in some TV commercials.
Her son, Paul, was a multi-sport athlete in high school, played college football and worked on the pro golf circuit.
Her son, Dave Callaway, is a professional singer in the Chicago area, and Tom Callaway acted in films and on TV before opening a successful interior design business in California.
Asked what life advice she’d share based on a century of experience, Phyllis says one lesson should be don’t waste time with grudges.
Callaway has also learned to just be yourself.
Her family came together to celebrate Phyllis reaching the century mark last weekend. That included her kids, 11 of her grandchildren and nine great-great-grandchildren.
CORRECTION: An earlier post said that Jeanne Callaway Finley works in real estate in the New York City area. That was based on a mistake in a press release with Phyllis Callaway’s background.
