William Egbert “Bill” Campbell, Sr. ’49

William Egbert “Bill” Campbell, Sr. ’49 of Shelby, passed away on June 4, 2007. He had battled cancer for three years and his life ended with God’s grace. At Davidson, he was a member of Pi Kappa Phi fraternity. After college, he traveled to Memphis, Tenn., to study the cotton business and then served for two years in the Army Signal Corps. He returned to Memphis in 1952 to work with the Weil Brothers in the cotton business and married Frances Elizabeth Bodley on April 25, 1953. In 1954, he and Frances moved to Shelby, where he worked with his father in the J.D. Campbell Cotton Co. He later began working as an insurance agent with Prudential and moved to Winston-Salem. When he returned to Shelby in 1959, Bill was asked to be the manager of the Security Life and Trust office. He became an independent agent in Shelby and built quite a business. Only when he recently became very ill did he finally have to give up the work he loved—helping other people. He was a lifelong member of Shelby Presbyterian Church, where he served as an elder, deacon and Sunday school teacher for both the men’s and ladies’ Bible classes. He served twenty-eight years on the Shelby City School Board and was chairman for seventeen. In 1988, he received the prestigious Raleigh Dingham Award for Outstanding Boardsmanship. He also served as President of Shelby Toastmasters, Shelby Swim Club, and Shelby Rotary Club, where he was named a Paul Harris Fellow. He also served on the Shelby Zoning Board. In 1980, the Shelby Lions Club presented him Cleveland County’s Citizen of the Year Award and in 1990, after his retirement from the school board, his hometown proudly honored him by declaring Feb. 5 of that year as “William E. Campbell Day.” Survivors include his wife of fifty-four years, Frances, 7 N. Lafayette St., Shelby, N.C. 28151; his son, Dr. William Egbert Campbell, Jr. and wife, Mary, of Shelby, and their two sons, Parker and Matthew; his son James Bodley Campbell and wife, Riza, of Anacortes, Wash., and his daughter, Mary Jacqueline and their son, James; his daughter, Kathryn Campbell Matney and husband, Brian, of Virginia Beach, Va., and their sons, William and James; and his brother, Dr. John David Campbell Jr. and wife, Gretchen, of Shelby.