SAN ANGELO, Texas —
Tuesday, Sally Meyers’ family, friends and peers visited the Stephens Central Library in downtown San Angelo to celebrate her retirement after 32 years as Tom Green County’s children’s librarian. This comes weeks after her husband, Craig, officially retired as pastor of St. Mark Presbyterian Church.
The two met at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago in the mid-1960s. At the height of the Civil Rights Movement, Craig and Sally bonded over a commitment to helping people.
Now, at 81, Sally still remembers where the commitment began.
“I was 19 years old when I sat in the balcony at chapel in Coe College Presbyterian School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa,” she said. “And I heard Martin Luther King speak. And I think that impression of being in his presence – even in the balcony – was something that moved me forward with thinking that maybe I should direct my life to service.”
Craig is a charter member of San Angelo’s MLK Jr. Association. The couple’s bedroom wall is covered in plaques recognizing them both jointly and individually for community service over the years.
He received a “Trailblazer Award” from the NAACP’s Southwestern Region in 1996. In 2001, the NAACP presented both Meyers with an award on behalf of the organization’s San Angelo branch.
Despite all the accolades he and his wife have received, Craig said he never liked the idea of being a leader.
“I know so many people that deserve awards and are never ever given credit for lifetimes of commitment,” he said. “But on the other hand, it reminds you – when you look at them – of where you’ve been and how what you were doing with other people has made a difference.”
Sally said she would not have left her position at Stephens Central if she did not think the children she served would be in good hands. Her successor, Amy Dennis, was recently named to the Texas Bluebonnet Award selection committee.
Both Sally and Craig plan to continue to contribute to Dunbar Library in their retired life. The building was the only Black library in segregated San Angelo from 1932-1972. The pair helped oversee the renovation and restoration of the historic building before it reopened in 2017.
Sally and Craig's humanitarian work has also taken them out of the country. On one of their bedroom walls, there are several photos from an outreach trip to Haiti.
The couple's most important job has been raising children. Over the years, The Meyers adopted two boys and one girl - one who is Black and another who is biracial. When people commented on her children's skin color, Sally urged them not to take it to heart.
"We just always told our kids it's not their problem," she said. "It's the other people's problem. Smile and move forward."
Tuesday, Craig and Sally's daughter, Danielle White, drove from Lubbock, along with her husband, Nathan and son Matthew, to attend her mother's retirement reception.
"I've got a lot of qualities from them over the years that I'm very proud of," she said. "They're just wonderful. I'm very blessed that I'm their daughter."