Obituary of Charles Raymond Campbell

Charles Raymond Campbell February 12, 1942 – December 26, 2020 Resident of Walnut Creek, California Charles – Charlie, Chuck, Dad, Grampa, Gramps – died peacefully in his home on December 26, 2020, his wife Martha at his side. He loved his home, his family, his dogs, and the life he built for them in the East Bay. Born in Portland, Oregon, he grew up on NE Alameda Street, attended Grant High School, and was a source of persistent worry for his mother, Helen, and of occasional busboy employment at his father Webster’s nightclub. He enjoyed college so much that he went to two (the University of Oregon and Oregon State University) to earn his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering (1966) before gaining his master’s in civil engineering from Stanford University (1968). He met the love of his life on Gleneden Beach in the summer of 1959. Rumor had spread that some of the ‘Grant Girls’ were going to be there, so the boys wisely followed. Chuck and Marty were married August 22, 1965 in Portland. This unassuming bespectacled young man turned out to be quite the globe trotter. Over the course of a 35-plus-year career with Bechtel Corporation and AECOM, Chuck designed and oversaw the construction of hydroelectric power, water supply, and wastewater treatment projects across five continents, including extended stays in Caracas, Venezuela (1981-1983), Cardiff, Wales (1993-1995), and Bangkok, Thailand (1995-1997). A longtime member of Saint Matthew Lutheran Church of Walnut Creek, he lived his life as advised in the Book of Micah: to do justice, to embrace kindness, and to walk humbly. His gentle demeanor masked a wicked sense of humor, which he’d unleash on the golf course or around the domino table to the surprise and delight of his playing partners. His smallish stature belied the wiry body of an athlete: One of his sons’ fondest memories was watching him stretch a single into a triple on a softball field, and overhearing an exchange from two astonished observers (‘Who is that guy?’ ‘I don’t know, but he sure can hustle.’). He stayed in shape over the years as an avid jogger; memorably, he and son Jay once ventured out for a 2 a.m. jaunt around the neighborhood after an alarm clock mistakenly went off in the middle of the night, leading to a PG-13 encounter with a flustered couple in the Northgate High parking lot. He leaves behind his wife, Marty; his older brother, Richard (Judy); his younger sister, Candace; his sons: Doug (Micaela Ross) and Jay (Stacey Nahrwold); and his grandchildren: Greta, Aliza, Ally, and Rex. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the charitable organizations in which he was most active: Loaves and Fishes of Contra Costa and Saint Matthew Lutheran Church of Walnut Creek. In addition, contributions to Hospice East Bay, whose dedicated caregivers provided compassionate support to Chuck in his struggle with multiple system atrophy, are welcome.