Obituary: ROBERT THOMAS CAMPBELL
By ADMIN-RAS | Published | No Comments
Robert “Bob” Campbell, 75, died peacefully in his sleep at home in Reidsville, N.C., on July 14. He is survived by his beloved wife, Ellen Campbell.
Bob was born in 1947 in Steubenville, Ohio, and lived with his parents in Weirton, W.Va. When his parents divorced, his mother, Bob and his sister, Barbara, moved to the North Side of Pittsburgh to live with his grandparents. He attended Penn State University and served two tours in Vietnam as a Green Beret. He explained that since he was single and without children, his service meant someone else could be exempt.
While serving in Vietnam, Bob worked with an Army medic among the Montagnard indigenous people. He helped deliver a baby, gave vaccination shots and did whatever he could to be of assistance. Bob convinced other service members to help him build a tennis court. They cobbled together anything and everything they could find, but it was destroyed by bombs before they could use it.
Born color-blind, Bob would happily explain how colors did and did not appear to him. Bob’s clothes always matched top to toe. He would buy full outfits and keep them together in a drawer, one set on top of another, ready to put on. He could spot variations in color, particularly in car paint.
Despite not playing tennis until he was 18, Bob rose to be a nationally ranked player. He coached tennis as a pro at different clubs in Baltimore, Springfield, Mass., and the Twin City area, and he owned a tennis club in Hanover, Pa. In Reidsville, Bob would help coach younger players, particularly if they were working on a particular part of their game. Bob dubbed himself the Grand Poobah at the Reidsville Tennis Academy, an academy he founded.
While Bob taught students the traditional elements of tennis, he also explained how to be aware of environmental factors such as wind conditions, moisture in the air and the court surface. Some students disliked the “secondary stuff,” but the ones who appreciated this method stayed with him for years and swore that their games improved.
Bob and Ellen married in 1996 while living in Baltimore. They had met and dated in their 20s when Bob taught Ellen tennis. While they both married other people in the interim, they kept in touch and eventually reconnected. Bob cherished Ellen and spoke often to family members about how much she meant to him and how she had changed his life, and how he was in the world.
Marrying Ellen meant marrying into a large family … of animals. Dogs and cats: Some smart. Some not so much. Some chatty. Some escape artists. Some 80-pound lap dogs. Eventually Bob rose to the position of the “Big Beagle,” although this title might have been contested by the actual beagles. Bob was devoted to the pack and cared deeply for the “cast of characters.”
Bob was a devoted brother, uncle and great-uncle. He loved going to see his sister, and she would prepare all his favorite foods. When her children were little they loved Uncle Bob’s visits, partly because of the food that came along with these visits.
Niece Maisy and her future husband, Gary, asked Uncle Bob to drive them all over Baltimore to look at advertised apartments. Bob had the time of his life during this hunting adventure. The night before nephew Trey’s wedding to Lindsay, Bob spent hours helping prepare food and keeping the group entertained.
Bob loved helping niece Mollie around her home and would work to bring her ideas to life. He enjoyed hearing niece Courtney’s stories of her children, who are the youngest of the current mix of great nieces and nephews.
Having a great-nephew who also loved cars, Bob spent several afternoons playing chauffeur, driving him around and around in circles. The antics of all the kids would bring broad smiles to his face.
Bob and Ellen – along with four dogs and one cat – moved to Reidsville, N.C., in 2009. Ahead of the move, they called animal control to make sure there would be no issues with so many dogs in one home. The people of Reidsville embraced the couple from day one with no questions, judgments or pointing out the newcomers’ many quirks.
Bob loved Reidsville and its surrounding areas. A lover of cars (BMWs and convertibles in particular), Bob learned all the backroads in the region, and he and Ellen would spend hours driving around, with no particular place to go.
Bob’s great love, other than Ellen, whom he called “Mer,” and a found bowl of sweets, was woodworking. His basement shop was well outfitted – and often upgraded – and he took on projects large and small, including a riding camel for a great-niece and a working dump truck for a great-nephew. Bob’s attention to detail and craftsmanship were exquisite. He had just purchased a book of plans for wooden puzzles to create as gifts.
Bob could be quiet at times, but if he knew you, he would happily talk for hours. “He had,” as one friend described it, “a heart of chocolate.” If someone called him for help, he would be at their door before they had hung up the phone. The “Bob stories” could fill a huge book, yet the upshot of all of them was that he was honest, had integrity, incredible loyalty and, most of all, a good heart.
Bob is survived by his wife; his sister, Barbara Kochick, and her husband, Rich; three nieces, a nephew (one nephew predeceased Bob); six great-nephews and two great-nieces; Lizzy the cat and Hoppy, the three-legged dog.
A visitation will be held on Sunday, July 16, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
A service will be held on Monday, July 17, at 11 a.m.
Both will take place at Citty Funeral Home, 308 Lindsey St, Reidsville, N.C.
Inurnment will be at Druid Ridge Cemetery, 7900 Park Heights Ave, Baltimore, MD 21208, at a date to be determined.
###
