Maxine June Campbell

WHAT A LIFE!  Full of God, family, friends, joy, love, laughter, and music!  Maxine grew up in Berkeley in a happily boisterous and very musical family of eight kids during the Depression, yet she still knew how to enjoy life and be happy.  She gave her life to Jesus as a young child and forever followed him. God and her church family were preeminent her entire life.  Maxine loved people and remained highly social, finding great joy in the companionship of her many close friends. Her contagious laugh was handed down from her mother and easily passed along to everyone who entered her sphere. She was independent and young when she married the love of her life, a dashing Navy man, George Campbell, during World War II and moved with him throughout the United States and around the world, all while raising five children, sometimes home alone until he returned on leave. He called her Sunshine, with good reason-she was full of laughter, had an inner joy, and she always smiled.  She kept God and church at the fore and did what was needed, often going above and beyond with children’s Bible schools, clubs and summer camps, and always with music. Maxine had an absolutely beautiful singing voice and used it to lift others up by singing solos in Church, nursing homes, and any social gathering that asked her to donate her time, always praising God. The Navy years of raising her family were happy and active and covered a lot of ground as they lived in many states and the Philippine Islands.  After the Navy, she and George, then in the US Forest Service, continued to travel to yet more interesting locations and ended up in Wyoming, where she braved the sub freezing, snowy winters, and again served by founding, promoting, and insuring the permanence of Wyoming’s first women’s Aglow organization and leading their delegation to Washington DC to speak with various politicians. Maxine delved deeply into the Bible and God’s teachings, and her knowledge and wisdom was vast. Through life’s inevitable highs and lows, Maxine and George’s 44 year marriage remains enviable, and through faith and love after sorrow, she persevered when her George passed. She turned to her family, friends and church, taught herself to play the autoharp, traveled to Alaska, and continued to sing of her joy of God and life. She later remarried, and together she and Chuck Harnden embarked upon a fun, loving, social and adventuresome retirement as they split their time between Wyoming and Arizona and traversed this world traveling to Israel, Costa Rica, throughout the Southwest, the Bahamas, many Native American Reservations, and vacationed in Mexico, including one rather dangerous long train ride into the heartland. Yet Maxine always stayed close to her five children, spent time with them, and was there for the births of her 14 grandchildren. She made a point of having close relationships with and helping to raise her grandchildren. She gave of herself and loved them all. With the passing of Chuck, Maxine settled down in her native California, which she dearly loved, near all of her growing family. She lived here for 14 years nextdoor to her son Kelly and daughter-in-law Darlene who lovingly and faithfully cared for her and insured her happiness. Because of their immense capacity to love and to give of themselves, Maxine aged gracefully in her cheery home, never needed a wheelchair, remained active in Church, sang, grew flowers in her garden, and most importantly to her, celebrated God and life with her many friends and family.  She has 17 great grandchildren and 8 great great grandchildren, and her and George’s legacy and its impact upon the world lives on. Maxine’s 95 years were full of what she valued-God, her family, friends, music, and her absolute joy of life. Throughout her life and travels she led by example. She leads us still, with a song in her heart.

Children:

Claudia June (Charles) Whitecotton

Susan Margaret (Robert) Thomason

Kimberley Ann Campbell Heise

Kelly Benjamin (Darlene) Campbell

Kevin Earl (Jill) Campbell 

Grandchildren:

Charles, Christopher, Claudia, Carrie, Tracey, Ashley, Forrest, Whitman, Talbot, Joseph, Tyler, Trevor, Zachary, Dillon 

Satisfy us in the morning with

your gracious love

so we may sing for joy

and rejoice every day.

Psalm 90:14