Jonathan Robert Callaway was born July 23, 1986 in Oakland, California. He died November 3, 2023 at the age of 37 in Chesapeake, Virginia. He is survived by his parents, Robert Alonzo Callaway and Jane Johnson Callaway; his sister, Karen Lynn Callaway; and his beloved cat, Pepper Lilly Callaway.

In his youth, Jonathan was a people person. He was always surrounded by friends at school, in his neighborhood, church, soccer team, karate classes, and at summer camp. Early on, Jonathan excelled at spelling, chess, drama, theater, and math. He could easily do complex math problems in his head.

Issues started for him in his teenage years, when he started to use illegal drugs. Jonathan was taken out of school his junior year of high school and sent to a drug rehabilitation program, where again, he made many friends. He obtained his GED in this program.

His first psychiatric hospitalization occurred as a result of a family- and counselor-led intervention when he was 21. During this hospital stay he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. For the next fifteen years Jonathan went to many different dual diagnosis treatment centers for mental illness and addiction. There were successes and failures along the way, but he always made new friends at these facilities.

Jonathan was courageous; he put himself on stage and did stand-up comedy. He also made countless YouTube videos and shorts. He reached 100,000 views on his YouTube channel, which made him quite proud.

Our beloved Jonathan really struggled with his mental illness and was involuntarily committed to the psychiatric hospital 22 times. But he was resilient; after every hospitalization he got out and tried again to be happy and healthy. All along his family never failed to support him and love him.

He did have plenty of periods when he attained stability, wellness, and insight into his mental illness. But his illness was complex, persistent, and devastating, because it caused us to lose him far too soon.

Jonathan was a kind hearted, deeply caring, keenly intelligent soul with an incredible sense of humor. He was also the BEST CAT DAD EVER to Pepper. We truly cherish the good times we had with him.

Jonathan's Visitation and Viewing will be held Monday November 13, 2023 from 6:00 to 7:00pm at B. W. Foster Funeral Home, 1926 High Street, Portsmouth, VA 23704. Jonathan's Memorial Service will be held Friday, November 17, 2023 at 3:00 p.m. at Trinity Episcopal Church, 500 Court Street, Portsmouth, VA 23704.

Memorial contributions to the National Alliance on Mental Illness or the Hearing Voices Network USA would be appreciated.