Calla Roddey Moffett Wright, Rock Hill teacher, dies at 85

Calla Roddey Moffett Wright, a legendary teacher in Rock Hill schools who had a major role integrating schools, has died at age 85 after an illness.

Her career spanned from segregated schools through integration, where she was named Rock Hill School District teacher of the year among other accolades. She started her teaching career at the Liberty Hill school in Catawba, part of the Rosenwald schools that were built to teach rural black children in the South. She taught for almost 50 years, 20 years at the first-grade level.

Roddey Moffett Wright came from a family of 14 children from rural Catawba southeast of Rock Hill that would include teachers, administrators and college professors. One of her brothers, Rev. Osbey Roddey, a retired teacher, principal and pastor, spent years on Rock Hill’s city council before retiring.

She was an important teacher who helped ease Rock Hill schools through integration, family members said.

“My aunt was a teacher who affected the lives of literally thousands of children, in a family that believed that education was not just important, but vital,” said Gemeta Anderson, a niece and teacher at York Road Elementary School in Rock Hill.

The family will receive friends at the home at 3266 South Anderson Road, and Sunday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the new Mount Olivet AME Zion Church. The funeral is Monday at 1 p.m. at Liberty Hill Baptist Church, Catawba.

This story was originally published July 11, 2015 at 4:00 PM with the headline "Calla Roddey Moffett Wright, Rock Hill teacher, dies at 85."