Callie Mae Gibson; Retired High School Teacher

Retired Hueneme High School teacher and girls’ basketball coach Callie Mae Gibson died Saturday. She was 63.

Gibson was born Oct. 17, 1934, in Lisman, Ala. After moving to Long Beach in the late 1950s, she married Leroy “Buddy” A. Gibson Jr. In 1960, the couple moved to Oxnard, where they started a family.

Gibson earned a bachelor’s degree in Alabama and attended graduate school in Long Beach, her family said. Over the years, she also attended several coaching classes at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Gibson started her career in 1960 as a substitute teacher. She taught fine arts and physical education at Hueneme High for many years, her family said.

In 1979, Gibson started coaching Hueneme High’s varsity and junior varsity girls’ basketball teams. She led a Hueneme High varsity team to the California Interscholastic Federation playoffs.

Gibson maintained an open-door policy at school, making herself available for at-risk youth, athletes, artists or any students needing help, her family said. She assisted students in getting college scholarships and financial assistance for sports camps.

Gibson was known as Hueneme High’s leading sports fan, which entitled her to a lifetime pass to all athletic events in the Oxnard Union High School District, her family said.

She was an advisor for Hueneme High’s Black Student Union. Gibson belonged to the Women’s Basketball Coaches Assn., and for the past eight years she attended the NCAA’s women’s basketball championship finals.

She retired from teaching and coaching in 1994.

Gibson was active with a professional women’s club, a local fashion show and a local women’s softball team. She was a member of Bethel AME Church in Oxnard.

In addition to her husband, Gibson is survived by three sons, Leroy A. Gibson III and Bradford S. Gibson of Ventura and Ronald K. Gibson of Las Vegas; a sister, Clareen White of Passaic, N.J.; two aunts; five grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.

A visitation is planned from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday at Garcia Mortuary in Oxnard. The funeral service is scheduled for 11 a.m. Friday at Bethel AME Church in Oxnard with interment to follow at Conejo Mountain Memorial Park in Camarillo.