Betty Margaret Campbell

The sixth of seven children born to Emma and Herman Reinert, Betty Margaret Reinert entered this world on March 3, 1931. She grew up in rural Michigan, where she and her four brothers and two sisters formed a tight bond built on a firm foundation of faith, kinship and life lessons learned on the family farm. Betty developed her deep love for and devotion to her Heavenly Father over a childhood of Sundays attending Saint Lorenz Lutheran Church in Frankenmuth, Michigan, where she was baptized and confirmed. She did not complete high school, choosing instead to spend her teenage years working to help support her family. Later, at the age of 36, she proudly filled that educational void by completing the necessary course work to earn her GED, all while working part time and raising five kids. Betty once worked as a server at world famous Zehnders Restaurant in Frankenmuth. Known for its fried chicken and recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records for its huge portions, Zehnders is where Betty caught the eye of her future husband, who happened to be seated in her section. A WWII veteran from Arkansas, John Campbell Sr. married Betty Reinert on February 3, 1951. After the birth of their first daughter, Gail, Betty became the only one of her siblings to move out of Michigan, when the prospect of steady work took the young Campbell family 300 miles south to Kokomo, Indiana. Not long after the birth of their first son, John Jr., the young couple purchased a house in the northern part of town in the new Bon Air subdivision, where they would welcome two more sons, Gregg and Robert, and a daughter, Janice. It didn’t take long for the growing Campbell family to outgrow their modest Brentwood Dr. abode and move into what seemed like a mansion located on Dixon Rd, across the cornfield from the newly constructed Stellite campus, where John Sr. would work until his retirement. Betty was a devoted mother who somehow managed five kids and a fulltime job at various factories, including a stint at Stellite, where, in 1966, Betty and John Sr. endured a six-month strike that would test the strength of their Midwestern work ethic. To help make ends meet, John Sr. found temporary employment at a local gas station, while Betty took in ironing from the neighbors. She would not return to Stellite after the strike ended, instead taking a position at Delco Electronics, from which she would eventually retire after working her way up to supervisor at the General Motors chip manufacturing facility. After John Sr. passed in 2001, Betty filled her final 20+ years in service to the Lord at her beloved Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, of which she was a founding member. It was with some members of her church family that Betty took a giant leap outside her small town comfort zone, traveling to Africa to sew clothes and help set up a library at Bright Star School in Nairobi, Kenya. The experience would make a lasting impression on her. When Betty wasn’t volunteering at the church, you could often find her playing Bingo and cards at the senior center. She was also just as happy curled up with her Kindle or watching the latest Hallmark movie from the comfort of her favorite chair. Soon after her mother died in 1980, Betty and her six siblings started the annual Reinert Reunion, which she rarely missed over the last four decades. This year’s reunion in July will be a celebration of her life as the last of her generation to pass. Next to her faith, family meant everything to Betty. She would often visit her daughter Janice Skinner and son-in-law Eric at their Northwest Indiana farm; or travel to the Chicago suburb of Palos Park to catch up with her daughter Gail Lobsinger and son-in-law Dann; or jet off to California, where her three sons John Jr., Gregg and his wife Valarie, and Robert and his wife Teryl reside. Whenever Betty and her family got together, it was all about the games…and usually a glass or two of wine. And whenever the dice stopped rolling, or the final cards were dealt, or the last double 12 domino hit the table, it was Betty who came out on top. Not always on the score sheet, but always on the hearts and minds of those who loved her. Betty is survived by her five children and their spouses, nine grandchildren and their spouses, and 10 great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her mother, father, four brothers, two sisters, her grandson Lonnie Skinner and her husband John Sr. In lieu of flowers, please consider sending a donation to: Good Shepherd Lutheran Church 121 Santa Fe Blvd. Kokomo, IN 46901