Obituary of Richard H. Campbell

Richard H. Campbell

1944-2021

Richard H. Campbell, age 77, of Bloomington, MN went to spend eternity worshipping his Heavenly Father and Creator on October 24, 2021, after complications following a stroke. He had been fighting a bone marrow disease for many years and had been diagnosed with Lewy body dementia in 2020.

Richard leaves Frances, his loving wife of nearly 25 years, who served tirelessly as a faithful caregiver throughout his illness. Also mourning his passing are daughter Joy (Kyle), son Michael (Gretchen), stepdaughters Lisa Culp and Pamela Hart, grandchildren, and many other family members and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, Sam W. and Ruth H. Campbell, older sister Betsy Haggerty, and older brother Sam W. Campbell, Jr.

Richard retired after 37 years in commercial insurance, mostly in marketing staff positions. He earned a designation in employee benefits from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He was never happier than when he was training a new group of salesmen, and continued to teach throughout his life, whether sketching out a map on the back of a placemat with his ever-present breast-pocket pen, quizzing a grandchild on a story, or spouting a bit of railroad trivia.

A proud veteran, he served his country for over 13 years, six in the U.S. Army Reserve and over seven in the U.S. Naval Reserve.

Born in Minneapolis in 1944, Richard grew to love travel, making his first overseas trip to Italy as a teenager, and ultimately travelled to over 80 countries, visiting every continent but Antarctica. He stood on the Great Wall of China in 1983 with his first wife, Suzanne Campbell, brought his children on a family trip to Germany in 1985, met Mother Teresa by chance on a mission trip to India and Bangladesh in 1989, saw the Sydney Opera House in 1999 with his wife Fran, and fulfilled a lifelong dream in 1999 by travelling to his ancestral homeland of Scotland. He also loved road trips and had “touched dirt” in all fifty states – the last one being Wyoming in 1989.

After retiring in 2004, Richard continued to enjoy travel, taking numerous cruises with Fran and armchair travelling as he watched Formula One races around the world. He also definitely was not napping on Sunday afternoons; he was watching football.

A celebration of life will be held December 10, 2021 at St. Michael’s Lutheran Church in Bloomington, MN; visitation at 10:00am, service at 11:00am followed by a light luncheon. Those desiring may make donations in Richard’s memory to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or their charity of choice.