Curtis L. Campbell

Curtis L. Campbell, son of the late Homer H. and Lennie (Reese) Campbell, was born on April 1, 1927 in Thomasville, Missouri, and departed this life on February 8, 2011 in the St. John’s Regional Health Center in Springfield, Missouri, at 83 years of age.
Curtis was raised on a farm on the banks of the Eleven Point River near Thomasville where he walked and rode his horse four miles everyday to school. He graduated from Thomasville High School in 1945. Following graduation, he went into the Merchant Marines for ten months. He also served his country in the United States Army/Air Corps and at the end of World War II, he served in France and Guam as a supervising carpenter. He was honorably discharged as a Corporal.
He was united in marriage to Fern Goodman on December 9, 1949 in Salem, Arkansas. Five children were born to this union. They moved to Peoria, Illinois, where he started his career as a Tool and Die Maker for Caterpillar Tractor. After twelve years in Peoria, Curtis moved his family to Mtn. View, Missouri, where he purchased a farm so instead of city life, his children could experience a less hectic pace of life and the freedom of the “good ole country life.” Then in 1963, he and Fern purchased a second farm where they continued to live for thirty-four years. It was during this time that he was hired by Curtis Wright who was a contractor with McDonald Douglas Aviation Company, which made many parts for the Gemini Space Craft program in St. Louis, Missouri. After ten years working in St. Louis, Curtis wanted to spend more time with his wife and children. He began working for Coinco Acceptors Manufacturing Company in Mtn. View, Missouri. He worked there for seventeen years until his retirement in 1995.
Following his retirement, he sold his farm in Birch Tree and moved to Mtn. Grove, Missouri, where he and Fern built a new home. This began his lifelong passion of farming and raising Hereford cattle, where today the same 1959 Hereford cattle bloodline continues to graze.
In 1971 through 2011, Curtis was an active member in the Masonic Lodge where he served as Grand Master for six years in Birch Tree and then moved his membership to the Mtn. View Masonic Lodge.
Curtis became a Christian at an early age and was baptized in the Eleven Point River. Following his retirement, he became a member of the First Christian Church in Mtn. Grove.
Beside his parents, he was preceded in death by one son: Harold Campbell in 1973; two brothers: Hubert and George Campbell; and by a beloved sister: Ruth Pennycuick.
He is survived by his loving wife: Fern Campbell of their home; one son: Dowe Campbell and his wife, Janna, of Mtn. Grove; three daughters: Belva Campbell of Birch Tree, Missouri; Cheryl Gosnell and her husband, Robert, of Willow Springs, Missouri, and Tammy Mangum and her husband, Bill, of Lancaster, California; nine grandchildren: Tobie Self and her husband, Aaron, Julie Patterson, Tessa Sater and her husband, Chris, Curtis Patterson, Cassie Campbell, Scot Mangum, Renee Mangum, Emily Peterson and her husband Jacob, and Ross Campbell; ten great-grandchildren: Shaina, Erica and Mattieu Ledgerwood, Haley Patterson, Logan and Blake Self, Matthew Trumble, Aeriona Bamba, and Sam and Ellie Peterson; and a host of other relatives, neighbors and friends.
He will be sadly missed by those who knew and loved him, but we rejoice that, "he no longer has to walk through life’s path of thorns; he now walks in fields of clover."

Burial:
Friday, February 11th at 2:00 PM in the Union Hill Cemetery in Thomasville, Missouri

Memorial Contributions:
Union Hill Cemetery c/o the funeral home.