Obituary
Bruce Hamilton Campbell, Jr. (LCDR, US Navy, Retired), 84, passed away on May 24, 2016 at his home in Orlando FL surrounded by family and friends. He was born in Lakeland FL, April 23, 1932 to Emma Lill and Bruce H. Campbell, Sr.
He is predeceased by his parents; wife of 40 years, Lyndsey Ferguson Campbell; son-in-law Clay Gill, and great grandson James David McBrayer. He is survived by his wife, Evelyne; two brothers Bob (Dianne) of Edgewater FL and Wally (Karen) of Daytona FL; former wife Maggie Madden; daughter Margie Gibson (Steve) of McDonough GA; step-daughter Elisabeth Pynas (Luther) of Orlando FL; sons Randy (Farah Stokes) of Tampa FL, Richard (Karen) of Locust Grove GA, and Scott (Robyn) of McDonough GA; grandchildren Sandi Shearouse (Cliff) of Locust Grove GA, Kelli Nichols (Phil) of Locust Grove GA, Lauri McBrayer (Jacob) of Locust Grove GA, Jasmine Gomez (Daniel) of Denver CO, Evan Campbell of Tampa FL, Jessica Davis (Beau) of Locust Grove GA, Jacob Campbell (Daisy) of Woodstock GA, Emily Campbell of McDonough GA, Zac Campbell of McDonough GA; step grand-son Léo Pynas of Orlando FL; and his great-grandchildren Clay, Maggi and Sadi Shearouse, Sam, Addi and Averi Nichols, Kolbi and Luci McBrayer, Gracie Mellon, and Scarlett Davis all of Locust Grove GA; his sister-in-law Jill Alcock of Auckland, New Zealand; and several nieces and nephews.
Bruce was a loving, caring, generous, and compassionate man with a quick wit and mischievous and sarcastic sense of humor. He loved his family and friends, driving convertible cars, fishing, golfing, and flying. His favorite drink was a rum and coke or sweet tea, he liked Brunswick stew, pound cake, lemon pie and banana pudding. Bruce visited all 50 states in the US, many countries around the world and all 7 continents.
Bruce was an outstanding pilot with a passion for aviation most of his life, following in his father’s footsteps. He flew more than 20,000 hours in over 35 different aircraft types during a period of 70 years from 1944 to 2014 without one incident. He was a US Naval aviator, living Pensacola FL, Trinidad, Panama, Norfolk VA, Quonset RI, New Zealand, and Jacksonville FL during his service. He served several years flying C-130 cargo planes between Christchurch, New Zealand and Antarctica as part of Operation Deep Freeze. After retirement from the Navy, and he developed several aviation related businesses, including Aircraft Charter Services, SIMCOM, and the Fixed Based Operator now owned by Sheltair Aviation. In the latter years of his aviation career he was a corporate pilot for a self-owned small business, Lyncon Management, until he retired in November 2014.
When he wasn’t flying, he could likely be found on a golf course. He was an excellent golfer, and played with several pros including Lee Trevino, Arnold Palmer, and Jack Nicklaus. He designed a golf course on the US Navy base in Trinidad, played Augusta National several times and scored several hole-in-ones over his life of playing golf. He once combined his love of flying and golf when he flew a mission to the South Pole and putted around the pole in three strokes, thereby setting a world record for fewest golf strokes around the world.
Services will be held 09:30 Friday, June 03 2016 at Sheltair at Orlando Executive Airport, 321 N. Crystal Lake Dr., Orlando, FL . Committal service will follow at 12:30 at Cape Canaveral National Cemetery, 5525 US Hwy 1, Mims, FL. A meal will follow, 2:00 PM at Sheltair Aviation hangar. His family would be honored to see you there to celebrate his life and share his legacy! May his memory be eternal! Que sa mémorie soit éternelle!
In lieu of flowers, please provide a donation to The Russell Home for Atypical Children (http://russellhome.org).
Alaska cruise with family, July 2014.
James, Mandy, Morgan & Kyle