Phrase origin: Why do we "call" functions?

Somewhat less frequently, I also hear "invoke" or "execute", which is more verbose but also more generic.

Incidentally, I find strange misuses of "call" ("calling a command", "calling a button") one of the more grating phrases used by ESL CS students.

C# seems to like to use "Invoke" for things like delegates or reflected methods. Then it proceeds to use "Call Stack" in the debugger view.