Betty Lou Campbell

Betty passed away in the early morning of June 9 at Rex Rehab & Nursing Care Center in Apex, North Carolina after a bout with pneumonia. She celebrated her 90th birthday the weekend before with family, enjoying her favorite crab cakes and potato salad.

Betty was born on June 2, 1929 at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C., the first child of her parents, Chester and Vivian (Shreve) Bell. She attended D.C. public schools including Eastern High School. She completed 11th grade and did not graduate due to family responsibilities.

She married Calvin Campbell in 1956 in Daytona Beach, Florida and they honeymooned on the island of Cuba just prior to the revolution. The family resided primarily in Marlow Heights, Maryland and McLean, Virginia. Family activities were her calling and she focused all her efforts and more on supporting her immediate and extended family.

Betty is survived by her two sons, Kevin (Cary, NC) and Mark (Fairfax, VA) Campbell, her youngest sister, Joan Margelos of Richmond, Virginia and predeceased by their middle sister, Dorothy Bell. She loved her daughters-in-law, Gayle (Cary, NC) and Mary (Fairfax, VA) and her grandchildren, Kelly and Jackson Campbell of Fairfax, VA and Micah, Nathan, and Hannah Campbell of the Raleigh, NC area. She frequently was caregiver for numerous extended family members over the years including being primary caregiver for her mother. She is also survived by two first cousins, Vivian Randall of Selbyville, Delaware and Norma Jenkins of Upper Marlboro, Maryland. She stayed close with her two nephews, Andy and Michael Margelos of Richmond and Fredericksburg, Virginia and loved her niece, Debbie Wheeler of Arlington, Virginia—the only girl among the cousins and kids.

Betty was a fastidious housekeeper and amazing cook, though she would tell you she didn’t enjoy cooking. In fact, when she had the opportunity to move to the newly opened Waltonwood Independent Living in Cary, NC in 2010, she was happy to be served food and never looked back on cooking. Growing up in the D.C. area and spending her childhood in her Southwest DC waterfront neighborhood gave her a fondness for all things seafood, especially steamed blue crabs. Many Mother’s Days and birthdays were celebrated with crab feasts.

Professionally, she was an integral part of the family business, Campbell’s Garage, of Southeast Washington. She kept business records as fastidiously as her home. Betty spent a great deal of time shuttling her kids to sporting events and was herself a big sports fan. She spent time with her father going to Washington Senators baseball games at Griffith Stadium, taking her kids to Opening Day games at the “new” RFK Stadium, and even making a trip to Nationals Park, built in her old childhood stomping grounds, when it opened 11 years ago. In addition to Washington baseball and Redskins football, she enjoyed watching NASCAR (Dale, Jr) and always kept up with Phil Mickelson on the golf course. She loved getting in on any Bingo game she could, and was pleased with her winnings at her most recent game a few weeks ago assisted by grandson Micah. She was camp director for numerous “Gran-Camps” hosting her grandchildren at her house with ample sweets and rounds of putt-putt golf.

She enjoyed retirement years at Lake of the Woods in Orange County, Virginia and at Summer Lake in Fredericksburg, Virginia. She was very social and developed friendships easily wherever she landed. She spent the last nine years in Cary and Apex, NC near family when she needed more care. The family extends its utmost thanks to all the staff at Rex Rehab in Apex for the care they provided to Betty over the past two years.

A remembrance of Betty’s life will be held later in the summer in/near Washington, D.C. Please contact Kevin Campbell at [email protected] if you’d like details when they are finalized.

Memorial gifts may be directed to the Habitat for Humanity chapter in her hometown, Habitat for Humanity of Washington, D.C. (https://dchabitat.org/) and/or the Huntington’s Disease Society of America (https://hdsa.org/), two organizations special to Betty. Please note your gifts as a memorial for Betty Campbell.