Mary Jane Caylor, 81, died peacefully on November 11, 2023, with her family by her side. A Huntsville native, Dr. Caylor graduated from Huntsville High School and earned her BS and MS degrees and her Ed D from the University of Alabama.
Dr. Caylor taught at the elementary school level and as an adjunct professor with the University of Alabama in Huntsville and Athens State College. In 1982, Dr. Caylor became the first female Superintendent of Huntsville City Schools, a position that she held until 1991. In 1994, she was elected as a member of the State Board of Education, serving four terms. She retired as Dean of Workforce Development at JF Drake State Community College in 2016.
During her time as Executive Director of the Bicentennial Commission and of Big Spring Partners, Inc. (a non-profit established for the revitalization of downtown Huntsville), Dr. Caylor was instrumental in the establishment and creation of the Bicentennial Children’s Fountain and Park, the Huntsville Rotary Plaza and Fountain, the Tom Thrasher Fountain in Big Spring Park and the Huntsville Madison County Veterans Memorial to preserve the history of our military and their devotion to our country.
She began her career with the City of Huntsville as a Juvenile Detective and as a Madison County Juvenile Probation Officer.
Dr. Caylor was a graduate of Leadership Huntsville, an alumna of the first class of Leadership Alabama and a charter member of its Board of Directors. She worked to establish the Huntsville City Schools Foundation and was recognized as Superintendent of the Year in 1990 by the Alabama Council of PTA’s and in 1991 by the American Association of School Administrators.
She is survived by her loving daughter, Molly Anastasia Caylor Hollis (Curtis); beloved granddaughter; Abby Hollis; and grandson, Nicholas Hollis.
She was preceded in death by her husband, John Will, her parents, Leona and Charles R. Smith, Sr., sister, Betty Carolyn Smith Morton, brother, Charles R. Smith, Jr., and grandson, Curtis Hollis, II.
Visitation will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, November 16, 2023, at The Episcopal Church of the Nativity followed by the service at 1 p.m. with the Reverend Dr. Virginia Monroe officiating.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Vanderbilt University Gift & Donor Services, Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center, 3322 West End Avenue, Suite 900, Nashville, TN 37203-1197 in loving memory of her late husband, John Will Caylor.
