Robert "Bob" Nethway Campbell

Robert Nethway Campbell;

Dad to us kids, Bob to his friends, was born May 28, 1927, in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He attended schools in Minot, North Dakota; and Watertown and Aberdeen, South Dakota.  His parents were Raymond Otter Campbell and Florence Couling Campbell who lived in Great Falls, Montana during their later years.

Dad graduated from High School in Aberdeen in 1945, then was drafted by the Army for World War II.  He had U.S. Army Signal Corps training at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey; then served as a radio operator at a secret mountain communications post overlooking Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.  He re-enlisted for a second tour, completing his Army service in 1947.  Following his military service, Bob purchased a lot on Little Bass Lake, Minnesota, where he built a small lakefront cabin.

In 1948, he started college at South Dakota State College/University where he met his future wife, Elaine Ford.  She was a Journalism major from Wakonda, South Dakota; the daughter of Lucian and Bessie Ford.  Lucian was the Editor and owner of the Wakonda daily newspaper; Elaine worked writing and setting type for the paper for several years as a teenager.  Dad earned his Bachelor of Science in Engineering Physics in 1951. He and Mom, Elaine Gladys Ford Campbell were married later in 1951.  Bob matriculated for graduate studies at Colorado State University, Fort Colllins, which he pursued through 1952.

In 1953, Dad started employment with RCA/Philco Research Lab in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he and Elaine lived until 1954.

In 1954, Bob and Elaine purchased a lot and together they built a family home in Arden Hills, Saint Paul, Minnesota, near where Bob was then employed by Honeywell in Minneapolis.  He worked at the Aerospace Division in research and sales; followed by the Building Technologies Division in sales management.   Their children, Paul Raymond Campbell, Bruce Lucian Campbell, Janet Suzanne Campbell, and Laura Elaine Campbell were all born in St. Paul.  In 1963, Bob and Elaine purchased a lot on Big Trout Lake, in Manhattan Beach, Minnesota, where they all built a family cabin, keeping the cabin on Little Bass for Grandma Campbell’s use.

In 1966, after in-depth consultation with Elaine and us children, our family moved to Los Angeles for Bob’s new role with Honeywell as the branch/regional sales manager.  We lived in Sierra Madre, and the entire family took advantage of the beaches, mountains, and year-round summer weather, traveling and being outside at every opportunity.  In the early 1980’s all the kids were out of house and Dad transferred back to Minnesota to complete his career.

Bob retired in 1987 and soon after decided he needed a house where it is warm in the winter. In 1993 he bought a lot in Alamo, Texas and supervised the building of a home on a 9-hole golf course. After that he became a Texas resident although he always enjoyed visiting the family cabin in Minnesota.

He is survived by his children, son Paul (Gail) Campbell of Stateline, Nevada and Los Alamos, New Mexico; son Bruce Campbell of Long Beach, California; daughter Janet (John) Campbell-Lorenc of Colonia, New Jersey, six grandchildren, Kathryn (Keith) in Colorado, Laura (Phoenix) in Indiana, Robby (Victoria) in California, Cari in South Carolina, Jennifer in Rhode Island, and Jack in Pennsylvania;  three Great grandchildren; four nieces and their families in Texas and South Dakota; plus many friends and acquaintances in Crosslake, Minnesota; Sierra Madre, California; and Alamo, Texas.  Dad was predeceased by his wife Elaine, and their daughter Laura.

Robert Campbell's burial will take place on Friday August 12, 2022 at 10:30 am at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Dad enjoyed camping, backpacking, water skiing, sailing, hunting, fishing, and golfing.  For his 75th birthday the kids, and grandkids, put together a book of Seventy-five Things That We Love About Dad/Grandpa

1. Letting us hike thru the snow to a frozen cabin; taking us to this freezing cabin in the winter; and breaking ice on the lake to get us water. Melting frozen pop on the stove so we could drink it.


2. Letting us swing from the rafters of the cabin, right into the bathroom.


3. Teaching us to make our own decisions and living with the consequences of our decisions.


4. Giving us the confidence that we could do anything.


5. Thinking of all kinds of important jobs that we could do whenever he was working on a project.


6. Pretending endlessly for Laura that the front door was magic and would open automatically when he came home from work.


7. Shooting off rockets in the Mojave Desert.


8. Never having to eat macaroni and cheese for supper when Dad was home.


9. Building us an aquaplane, teaching us to ride the aquaplane and dragging it around the lake behind the boat for hours on end.


10. Encouraging us to stand up for what we believe in.


11. Getting us a bigger boat when we couldn't ski with the Sea King; getting another bigger boat when that one wouldn't pull us either; replacing 2 or 3 boat starters in a year.


12. Delivering Sunday newspapers and then going to the Pancake House for breakfast.


13. Making a Barbie camper, out of wood, for the daughter who desperately desired one.


14. Letting all of the kids help build the cabin, over about 30 years.


15. Taking up backpacking, and carrying Laura inside a backpack.


16. Taking the family out to dinner only at the all-you-can eat smorgasbord, because you got a good value. Not being distressed when Paul ate more than he could hold after a long day of marching band competition.


17. Teaching us to be thrifty, so we'd have money when we really needed it.


18. Teaching us to sail in the "X" boat, letting us bail continuously in the "X" boat; letting Bruce paint and patch the Banana Boat (it still leaked); teaching us to sail bigger boats at Marina del Rey.


19. Continuing to go to sailboat races despite our hopeless position; telling Janet to yell "Starboard tack!" whenever another sailboat was approaching, either they'd give-way as required, or get out of the way since we were obviously clueless.


20. Showing us the best trees for tree forts. Helping us haul the wood to build the biggest tree fort community. Feeling bad when the tree houses fell down.


21. Taking us to sawmill and the lumberyard countless times to get slabs and another pound of nails.


22. Driving all the way down to La Paz, Mexico, when the highway first opened to go fishing.


23. Going to visit all the western National Parks, because we were only going to be in California for two years.


24. Backpacking in ice cream to Mom, Paul, and Gail, and the scouts that were on the weeklong backpacking trip.


25. Telling Janet that Scottish girls should like oatmeal.


26. Buying Janet a second 10-speed bike at the Akron, because it was a good price, even though the handlebar stem snapped off the first Akron Bike, as Janet was pedaling up Sierra Keys Drive.


27. Teaching us to water ski and being delighted when we blow him out of the water by skiing on one ski, then by skiing backwards; teaching the grandkids to ski.


28. Helping us learn the value of an honest day’s work and paying us 10 cents an hour to dig and assemble the septic tank system.


29. Building us a swimming pool and letting us take turns cleaning it!


30. Buying a riding lawnmower, then conning us into mowing the grass because it was fun; hooking the wagon up to the mower and pulling us around the yard; letting Bruce ride the lawnmower down the street.


31. Coming willingly along to learn about backpacking as we learned too, and going on countless Boy Scout hikes.


32. Making oatmeal, all different kinds of ways, and pretending that it tasted good.


33. Writing letters to all the kids at summer camp, complete with illustrations, telling about what the cats have been busy doing at home in Sierra Madre, or including other odd pictograms and strange puzzles.


34. Telling Grandma, that yes, the kids sure could use another set of knit hats, slippers, scarves, and mufflers for Christmas in California.


35. Sitting through the elementary school music concerts for four children, and being happy that he would never again he required to listen to the Beginning Strings play "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star".


36. Taking the kids to the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and not being upset when they fell asleep.


37. Swimming naked in the Sierra's!


38. Keeping quiet about the hot air balloon.


39. Helping Bruce build model airplanes; teaching us to use tools; admiring our model rockets before and after they crashed.


40. Telling us bedtime stories, night after night; including our favorite stuffed animals as the heroes in the stories.


41. Taking the kids canoeing; helping to take the engine apart and dry it out after the canoe came back from another capsize; bailing the canoe with his hat.


42. Melting Janet's pink cat-eye glasses in the oven when trying to repair a broken nosepiece.


43. Looking up from his newspaper in amazement one day, as Janet was practicing the clarinet, saying, "Hey, you are good! When did you get good?"


44. Planting corn in the front yard in Sierra Madre.


45. Washing the kitchen carpet, and then putting a sign on it so Mom would be sure to notice.


46. Letting us paint our bedrooms any color we wanted, as often as we wanted, "as long as it was a light color".


47. Noticing the bear on the island that was going to be our camping spot; moving to a different spot, then going fishing for dinner and sacrificing the tent to another bear.


48. Encouraging us to try new things and teaching us to always do our best.


49. Teaching us to ride a bike on Ridgewood Road, all the way down the hill to Lake Johanna.


50. Always taking it in stride when we brought home broken bicycles, mini bikes, go-karts, and motorcycles.


51. Letting us paint the playhouse over and over again, with help from most of the kids in the neighborhood.


52. Being thrilled a child won an award in high school, even if it was the Betty Crocker Family Leader of Tomorrow. ·


53. Being mortified when he fell asleep before Janet came home from her date.


54. Making a chart for Paul, scientifically comparing attributes of various colleges, and then taking it in stride when Paul decided to go “somewhere where it rains”.


55. Staying with one company his whole career; wearing a tie to dinner one time after he retired.


56. Sending us to summer camp at Cherry Valley, Tomahawk, the Sierras, Singing Pines, Camp of the Thunderbirds, Illinois Shore Camps, Mountain Meadows, River Glen, Cielo, and more!


57. Sailing to Catalina Island.


58. Missing some ducks, so Bruce can shoot some.


59. Appropriating Janet's garbage find of green indoor-outdoor carpet, because he could use it near the pool.


60. Cleaning out the kids' bedrooms when they were gone to Minnesota and unable to retrieve anything from the garbage.


61. Cooking all the grandkids blueberry pancakes from scratch; discovering Krusteaz.


62. Making your famous rutabaga at Thanksgiving.


63. Buying all the grandkids fishing poles and helping them catch their first fish and letting them catch the big fish; having plenty of worms so we could help the grandkids stand at the end of the dock and catch the Sunnies that you could see swimming by.


64. Giving Kate and Laura their own official camping jackknife when they completed their first overnight canoe trip.


65. Inviting us to have fireworks, even well past the 4th of July; sparklers at the end of the dock.


66. Having a whole fleet of deflated inflatable alligators.


67. Allowing a new cat, Macintosh Renaissance Baroque, in the house four months after Cat escaped from the car somewhere between Las Vegas and Sierra Madre; welcoming home Cat two months later when she finally showed up on the doorstep.


68. Letting Robbie and Cari drive the golf cart.


69. Helping Jenny and Jack cook over the campfire at the cabin!


70. Selling the boys' bunk bed at a yard sale. Then, when another customer came looking for the advertised bunk bed, selling the bunk bed that Janet was still sleeping in.


71. Making chili to use up the leftovers in the freezer, with the chili increasing in size each night.


72. Being convinced that THIS sourdough bread recipe was going to work.


73. Buying wine in 5-gallon jugs in spite of extensive wine tasting training.


74. Knowing how important an education is and starting college funds for all the grandkids.


75. For loving us all and teaching us love.

YOU ARE THE GREATEST DAD/GRANDPA!

WE LOVE YOU!