Calli Townsend Newberry ’21 died Tuesday, June 6, from injuries sustained in a car accident. 

Newberry, 24, was a wife, mother, sports journalist, and runner. While at Hillsdale College, she participated in track and field and served as The Collegian’s sports editor. But above all, her friends, professors, and coaches remember her for the vibrant love for Jesus she shared with everyone she encountered.   

“I honestly don’t remember a conversation with her where faith didn’t come up,” Newberry’s track and field teammate Arena Shelley ’20 said. “It was quite obvious that her faith was strong, and she was joyful and ready to share about it.”

Andrew Towne, former track and field head coach, said Newberry would encourage her loved ones to find hope in Jesus during difficult times.

“She would revert to God right away and speak to her faith and how we don’t know why we have these hard times, but there’s always a plan, and we just have to lean on him and trust his plan,” he said.

During her time at Hillsdale, Newberry was an all-conference hurdler and 2019 G-MAC champion on the women’s track and field team, as well as an editorial staff member of The Collegian. She majored in sports management and minored in journalism. 

Newberry led the track and field women’s Bible studies throughout her college career and wrote a devotional called “Semester Together” to help teen girls “find their purpose and confidence in God’s love.”

After graduating from Hillsdale, Newberry returned to her hometown in Michigan’s Thumb and married her high school sweetheart, Chance Newberry. She gave birth to Ellie Marge Newberry on Feb. 11, 2023. The 4-month-old was in the backseat of the car during the accident but sustained only minor, treatable injuries. 

Newberry is survived by her husband, Chance; daughter, Ellie; parents, Jodi and Steve; and brothers, Curtis and Jake. A GoFundMe for Newberry’s family has so far raised almost $57,000 of the $75,000 goal. 

“It’s tough to put into words how much she meant to me,” Jake Townsend, Newberry’s younger brother, told The Times Herald. “She was not just my sister, she was a friend to me. I could talk to her about anything and she was always so supportive of me. She meant everything to me.”

Newberry’s faith animated every aspect of her life, said Carmel Richardson ’21, who was on The Collegian staff with Newberry for three years. While many college students allow academics or extracurriculars to define them, Newberry’s faith was her defining characteristic, she said.

“Her faith was the most important thing in her life, and it was evident to everybody that she interacted with, and I think that’s really exemplary,” Richardson said. 

Katie Hall, a former Athletes Intervarsity staff member who had weekly discipleship meetings with Newberry and remained close friends with her after she graduated, said Newberry’s love for God was central to everything she did. 

“She shined his light so bright that it would light up every room she was in,” Hall said. “She had strong convictions that she was always bold enough to act on. She was passionate about everyone on her team coming to know Jesus which drove her involvement in and leadership with Athletes Intervarsity. Her teammates looked up to her as a role model, a friend, and an amazing example of how to live like Jesus did.”

Liam Bredberg ’21, who edited the sports section of The Collegian alongside Newberry for three years, said she was the most faithful and kind person he has ever met.

“Her faith defined her,” Bredberg said. “She was a follower of Christ, and she put God first in everything she ever did more than anyone I ever met.”

Shelley said Newberry was kind, genuine, humble, joyful, and a supportive teammate. 

“She was a very beautiful runner and always such an encouraging teammate,” Shelley said. 

Newberry was a happy person, a calming presence, and a loyal and thoughtful friend, according to Hall.

“But even with all these amazing attributes, she was so humble and selfless, constantly looking to the needs of others before her own,” Hall said. “Calli was loved greatly by everyone who knew her and will be missed deeply.” 

After graduating from Hillsdale, Newberry worked as a sportswriter for Blue Water Healthy Living, an online magazine based in Port Huron, from October 2020 to July 2022. In August 2022, Newberry started her own website, The Sports Report, which covers local sports in the Port Huron area.

“It just doesn’t doesn’t seem real because you had somebody that was literally doing, I think, exactly what God had for her, exactly where God wanted her,” Towne said. “To only do that to the age of 24, it just seems like an absolute travesty.”

Towne said he thinks Newberry would have defined herself, above all else, as a Christian.

“Certainly her life evolved, from daughter to wife and then mother, but I think she would define herself as a Christian first and foremost, no doubt,” he said. 

Director of the Dow Journalism Program John J. Miller said Newberry was a diligent and responsible member of Collegian staff, and one of the nicest students he has gotten to know on campus.

“As sports editor of The Collegian, she finished her pages well ahead of schedule,” Miller said. “When I visited the paper’s office on production nights, she often wasn’t there because she had completed her work earlier in the day.” 

Newberry’s sports journalism talents could have taken her far from home, Miller said, but her love of rural Michigan inspired her to return to start a family and write about local sports. 

“She was a deeply faithful Christian who wanted to share her love of Jesus with everybody she knew,” Miller said. “She did this by example, and she aspired to do more of it in the future with her writing. The only way to make any sense of her early death is to have Calli-levels of faith.”

Newberry’s funeral service will take place at 11 a.m. on Monday, June 12 at Colonial Woods Missionary Church, Port Huron.