Robert Louis Campbell, 85, husband of the Rev. Mary Louise DeWolf, died December 19, 2015 at home in Crystal River, FL, with hospice care. He was born in Port Jervis, NY, the only child of Louis and Elizabeth Strauser Campbell.
He graduated from high school in Poughkeepsie, NY where he ran track and played football. After attending Brown University in Providence, RI for one year, he transferred to Boston University. At BU he was House Manager of the Alpha Chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha, ran track, was a sprinter, and graduated with a BA in Latin American Regional Studies.
He then enlisted in the Marine Corps Officers Candidate School and graduated as a second lieutenant. He was stationed four years as the first platoon leader in an infantry company at Marine Corps Air Station, Kaneohe Bay, HI. He served as the base provost marshal (the equivalent of a county sheriff), defense counsel and trial counsel for special court martial cases, and was responsible for monitoring civilian activities on the base. He was a reconnaissance officer for the First Marine Brigade. As an extra activity, he put together eight-man football contests.
Upon returning home, Bob was hired by Kemper Insurance and became the district manager of the Boston area and the owner of Mutual General Insurance Agency, a brokerage outlet for New England. Bob then joined the E. A. Stevens Insurance Agency as a salesperson specializing in retail and wholesale lumber dealers insurance. During these years he continued serving in the Marine Corps Reserve and retired from the Marines as a major.
Bob moved to Citrus County, Florida in 1991 and continued working for a short while with Baxley Insurance Company. He and his late wife, Nancy Eaton Vent, were charter members of Nature Coast Unitarian Universalists in Lecanto in 1998.
He met Mary Louise in 2000 through the Unitarian Church. She was studying for the UU ministry then and shared a book on grieving with Bob when his wife, Nancy, died.
Bob enjoyed playing golf at Seven Rivers Golf and Country Club in Crystal River, and volunteering with the Citrus County Democratic Party. He is survived by his second wife, Mary Louise DeWolf, whom he married in 2000. Bob is also survived by his son Gifford Campbell, his daughter-in-law, Michele, in Salem, MA; grandson Erric Emerson in Philadelphia; granddaughter, Julie Partington, and great grandchildren, Haven and Harmony Partington, in Maybrook, NY.
A memorial service for Bob was held at Nature Coast Unitarian Universalists, 7633 N. Florida Ave., Citrus Springs on , January 6, 2016.
Notes of remembrance may go to Mary Louise DeWolf, 936 Pompano Ave., Crystal River, FL 34429.