Richard
Allen "Dick" Campbell, 85, passed away Friday, Aug. 1, 2008,
following a brief hospitalization.Funeral: 11:30 a.m. Tuesday in Greenwood Chapel. Interment: Greenwood Memorial Park. Visitation: 7 to 9 p.m. Monday at Greenwood Funeral Home.
Memorials: The family requests that memorials, in lieu of flowers, be made to the charity of your choice.
Dick was born Feb. 1, 1923, in Newark, N.J. His family later moved to Hackettstown, N.J., where he graduated from high school in 1940. He joined the Army Air Corps in 1942 and graduated from cadet training in 1943 at Foster Field. Having graduated second in his flight training class, he became a flight instructor during most of his Air Force career.
During World War II, Dick flew transport aircraft in North Africa. Following the end of the war, he was selected to fly the Berlin Airlift during the Russian occupation of Berlin, Germany. At the completion of the Berlin Airlift, Dick returned to the United States in 1949, where he was reassigned to the Strategic Air Command's 301st Bomb Wing, first in Salina, Kan., and then at Barksdale AFB, La. There he met his future wife, Eva Evelyn Stuart. They were married in the Barksdale AFB Chapel on Nov. 25, 1950.
Shortly after their wedding, Dick was reassigned to Ramey AFB, Puerto Rico, where he flew KB-29 tankers. From there, he was transferred to Forbes AFB, Topeka, Kan., where he flew the RB-47 for eight years during the Cold War with Russia.
In 1960, Dick was selected to fly the B-58 Hustler, the world's first supersonic jet bomber. He was stationed at Carswell AFB, Fort Worth, for four years. Dick next attended the Air War College at Maxwell AFB, Ala., before rejoining his squadron at Bunker Hill AFB, Ind.
When the B-58 program was terminated, Dick transferred from SAC to a tactical unit in England where he flew the RF-4C. Near the end of his tour of duty there, his plane malfunctioned and he bailed out into the North Sea, where he was rescued by a Dutch frigate.
Dick's final assignment was with a B-52 bomb wing at Wurtsmith AFB, Mich., where he retired in 1974 after 31 years in the Air Force. The family returned to Fort Worth, where Dick began a new career in 1975 as the owner of Fore & Aft Marine.
Col. Campbell was preceded in death by his parents, sister and brother.
The family extends special thanks to the nurses and technicians of Harris Methodist Southwest for their compassionate care during Col. Campbell's final days.
Survivors: Wife, Eva Stuart Campbell; daughter, Cheryl Widmer Campbell of Fort Worth; son, Richard Stuart Campbell and wife, Linda, of Magna, Utah; grandchildren, Richard Allen Campbell III and wife, Katy, of San Jose, Calif., Jacquelyn Campbell of Salt Lake City, Utah, and Robert Campbell of Magna, Utah; sister, Ethel Rose Bishop of Winter Park, Fla.; and several nephews.
