HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — Crystal Cauley, a Black community leader and activist in Hendersonville who was the founder of the Black History Collective of Henderson County and who also started the Black Business Network of Western North Carolina, died on June 16.
She was 44.
“Crystal was a titan in what she stood for,” Neal Cauley, who is Crystal Cauley’s cousin, told News 13 on June 18. “She died on Father’s Day. We are still waiting on the cause of death.”
Neal Cauley said Crystal Cauley’s father had been in a bad car accident on June 14 and was at Mission Hospital.
“Her dad is having open-heart surgery today,” Neal Cauley said on June 18. “It’s a sad week for the Cauley family, for sure.”
YaShara Lynch said she was Crystal Cauley’s best friend and that she knew her for the past 27 years.
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“I’ve known her for almost all of my life,” Lynch told News 13 on June 18. “It’s just such a shock. She was such a giving person. She would help you in any way she could. She did so many things in the community, too. She worked a third-shift job. I always asked her how in the world she had time to do everything that she did. It was incredible.”
Lynch said her last conversation with Crystal Cauley was on Saturday, June 15.
“My daughter is looking into doing makeup and being a hair stylist, and Crystal saw a program at a college online. She sent it to me and said my daughter should look into that. That was the last thing she said to me,” Lynch said.
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Crystal Cauley had many firsts as an activist in Hendersonville, including the Black History Collective of Henderson County being founded in 2019 with the first Black art exhibition. Last year, the collective pushed to have Black History Month recognized by the city of Hendersonville, and it was with a proclamation by Mayor Barbara Volk in February 2023.
Other proclamations were the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, Kwanzaa and Hendersonville’s first Juneteenth proclamation, which also happened last year. Also in 2023, Cauley received a “Radical Rest” grant from the Waymakers Collective, an organization that supports Appalachian art and culture.
Volk told News 13 that Crystal Cauley “cared deeply for the community, and she made important contributions to the arts and cultural arenas in Hendersonville.”
“She served on our city’s Historic Preservation Commission and on many other community boards. I had the pleasure of working with her on numerous proclamations to build awareness and celebrate the contributions of our local Black community,” Volk said. “She often brought young people with her when she attended City Council meetings. Her presence will be missed, but the impact she had in the community will continue to be felt.”
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Cauley was also running for a seat on the Henderson County Board of Education in the Nov. 5 General Election, according to the Henderson County Board of Elections.
She has a 24-year-old son and a 15-year-old daughter.
Tributes from the community began to pop up on social media when Cauley’s death was first made public on the Hendersonville, N.C. Facebook page and also on Safelight’s Facebook page. Cauley was a board member for Safelight, the post said.
“It is with a heavy heart that we learned last night of the passing of our board member Crystal Cauley,” the Safelight post said on June 17. “Crystal has been an advocate and friend to many in our community including Safelight. We encourage support to her family.”
Hendersonville Middle School teacher Katy Gash said Cauley was a voice in the community, “always seeking opportunity, dignity and fair treatment for everyone.”
“You were unapologetically about the furtherance of justice for the underserved and overlooked. Your contributions to the arts, education and cultural scenes in Hendersonville will never be forgotten,” Gash said in her post. “Your role in advocating for the rightful celebration of our African American history cannot be understated.”
Cauley’s parents, Marilyn and Gerald Cauley, both grew up during the Civil Rights Movement, and she had said in the past that her mother was also a Black historian. Cauley, a Hendersonville native and a 1998 Hendersonville High graduate, said her maternal lineage originated in Sierra Leone in West Africa from the Mende Tribe.
Following high school graduation and the birth of her son, Tyrese, at the age of 19, Cauley enrolled at Cecil’s Business College and later graduated from Greenville Technical College in Greenville, South Carolina.
A GoFundMe Page was set up to help the family with funeral expenses. Lynch and Neal Cauley said Roseboro Funeral Home in East Flat Rock is in charge of the arrangements, which haven’t been announced yet.
