Susan Holland Campbell, 53, entered the next stage of life on June 23, 2010, in Bowie, Texas. A former member of FUMC, she has more recently been a member of FUMC Bowie but has served as a Lay Delegate to the North Texas Annual Conference for many years.
She was born April 15, 1957, in Beaumont, Texas, to Dr. Jefferson Holland Campbell and Shelia Ann Trapp Campbell. She graduated in 1975 from Wichita Falls High School. She earned a BA in history from Midwestern State University in 1978. She was named Outstanding Sophomore, Junior, and Senior Woman and was Lady Midwestern her senior year. She was a student academic advisor, was elected to the honor societies Sigma Tau Delta, Alpha Chi, Cap and Gown, and Phi Alpha Theta, and was a Floyd Ewing Fellowship recipient. She was president of the Midwestern Chapter of the Chi Omega Sorority and maintained her Chi Omega friendships throughout her life, serving as a mentor to younger sorority members. She pursued graduate studies in historic preservation at Middle Tennessee State University before beginning her career in downtown and community development in Americus, Georgia, in 1981.
Susan returned to her home state to work in the Texas Main Street Program. She was the second Main Street Director hired and served in McKinney before joining the Texas Main Street Program’s state office in Austin. Afterward, she worked at Downtown Fort Worth, Inc. from 1988 to 1998 in several positions, including vice president and marketing communications director.
Susan met a soul-mate with the same last name, and she married James E. Campbell in 1992. In 1998, the couple moved to Bowie, where Susan became Main Street manager and economic development coordinator. Susan was very active as both employee and volunteer, serving on numerous boards and volunteering in many causes. Some volunteer projects involved her talents for singing and performing, such as being in an “Andrews Sisters” trio for Iwo Jima Survivors Reunions, playing Sister Robert Anne in “Nunsense,” and “starring” as Marlene Dietrich at a USO-style fundraiser. She was named MSU Outstanding Alumna, Division of Humanities, in 1994. She received Bowie’s Citizen of the Year Award for 2001.
Susan was a member of First United Methodist Church of Bowie, where she sang in the choir and volunteered countless hours in youth ministry, including organizing mission trips and performing local mission work. She participated regularly in Walk to Emmaus.
In 2007, Susan received The Texas Historical Commission’s Anice B. Read Award of Excellence in Community Heritage Development for her exemplary work in downtown revitalization, preservation planning and heritage tourism. She was a longtime member of the Texas Downtown Association, was TDA president in 2009, and will receive TDA’s 2010 Downtowner of the Year Award posthumously. She served on the board of Workforce Solutions North Texas for several years and was Vice President of the NCTC Montague County Foundation Board.
Susan viewed her life and work as a ministry to others, and many benefited from her caring, mentoring, friendship, and leadership. Generous with her time, her resources, and her mind and heart, she made the world a better place everywhere she went.
Susan is survived by her husband Jim Campbell of Bowie and their dog Scout; her sister, Cary Campbell; and brother, Charles Campbell of Wichita Falls; her nephew and niece, Christopher and Courtney Campbell of Minneapolis; her aunt and uncle, Betty Gail and Bill Chapman of Houston; and many beloved cousins. She was preceded in death by her parents and grandparents.
Memorials can be made to:
- Campbell Scholarship Fund
North Central Texas Community College
c/o Dean Emily Klement
P.O. Box 1247
Bowie, TX 76230;
- City of Bowie Auditorium Fund
201A Walnut Street
Bowie, TX 76230; and
- First United Methodist Church of Bowie
1515 Jefferson Street
Bowie, Texas 76230.
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