Frank Campbell Remembered

[Editor]

Frank Campbell, a life-time resident of Hackensack, died on Saturday.  He was 91.  He lived on Catalpa Avenue. Mr. Campbell was a regular participant at City Council meetings.  He was a direct descendant of Archibald Campbell who owned a tavern on the courthouse green (now the Breslin Building) during the Revolutionary War. In 1780, Archibald Campbell escaped capture from the British by hiding in the root cellar. His maternal ancestors (the Bantas) were one of Hackensack's founding families.

Frank was a kind and generous man who cared a great deal about his community.  He was proud of his heritage and his city.  An engineer by profession, he always looked for ways to improve public places to make them safer and more enjoyable. Mr. Campbell worked as an engineer privately for the Port Authority and worked on engineering the second level of the George Washington Bridge.  He was also World War II veteran.

He will be missed.

Below is a story that the Chronicle published about Mr. Campbell in January 2006.  Re-printed with permission.
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City’s stalwart resident perseveres

January 27, 2006
BY ROHAN CASTELINO
Staff Writer: The Chronicle 

While the City Council has seen a turnover in personnel in the last few years, there has been one constant presence at City Hall — Frank Campbell. Though not a politician or an official public servant, Campbell, 89, has set the bar for civic participation.

During the portion of the meeting devoted to public discussion, Campbell delivers his weekly address, bringing to light issues he feels are important, while never shy to suggest the occasional policy change. Council members may not always be on the same page with Campbell’s insights and suggestions, but they always listen.

Campbell attributes his dedication to the love of his life-long home Hackensack. Retired for more than 23 years, the former mechanical engineer and inventor once served on the Board of Assessment and the planning board. Though he is approaching 90 of age, Campbell does not intend to slow down. Aside from a touch of rheumatoid arthritis, he is in exceptional health, carrying on his daily activities with the energy and vigor of man half his age.

Campbell is not even the eldest sibling in his family. His oldest brother is 94 years old and lives in California and his sister, 93, lives in Wisconsin.

Longevity also describes Campbell’s family history as he can trace his ancestry back prior to the founding of the United States. His mother’s side, the Bantas arrived in America in the 1600s while the Campbells arrived more recently in 1767. Though he cannot verify it definitively, it is possible that someone in his family has fought in every war this country has engaged.

Public service is also part of his family’s legacy. His great grandfather, Archibald, was Hackensack’s first Postmaster. Another relative, Robert, donated the property used for the cemetery on Hudson Street. Campbell’s father also served as a city engineer and director of public works.

Campbell fondly remembers his childhood memories growing up on the corner of Passaic and State streets. Like many of Hackensack’s present youth, Campbell attended Fairmount School and Hackensack High School. While today’s youngsters enjoy the benefits of cars and busing, Campbell recalls walking and horse drawn wagon as the contemporary mode of transportation.

Though Campbell has resided in Hackensack for much of his life, his younger years took him all over the world. After high school, he worked various jobs with DuPont and Western Rail Road. The job placed him in Salt Lake City, before he reconnected with his older brother who had been working in Denver. With a passion for all things mechanical, Campbell enrolled in the University of Colorado to study engineering.

Everything seemed to be moving to his satisfaction until Dec. 7, 1941. Pearl Harbor put Campbell’s and the rest of America’s plans on hold.

“I still remember my draft number, 110,” recalls Campbell. “After Roosevelt addressed the nation, a lot of guys were all gung-ho about going off to fight, I honestly was not too thrilled about it … But I went and served in the Army for 37 months.”

Campbell returned home to Hackensack before reporting to basic training in Virginia via Fort Dix. While on his way, he reconnected with a close friend, Joanna Orth, from Hackensack. She was working for the Treasury Department in Washington D.C. The two had casually dated in high school, but were now friends. Over the course of a few months, while Campbell was undergoing training at various sites including North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey, he maintained correspondence with Joanna. A romance blossomed between them and they married in Camp Kilmer in New Brunswick, NJ before he shipped off to war.

Campbell’s expertise in all things mechanical had him working in artillery control. His team was responsible for gauging the environmental conditions such as wind, range, and trajectory for firing off gunships. In September 1942, Campbell and his unit departed with a convoy from Nova Scotia, Canada, to Ireland.

There Campbell received an unexpected honor. He recalls, “While at sea, one of the young officers got drunk on duty. For his indiscretion, the colonel relieved him of his command and had him sent off to England for the rest of the tour. The rest of us thought he was a lucky guy, but I was then promoted to take command of his unit.”

Scotland was the next destination. Campbell and his men were trained in how to take enemy airports. From there, they headed down the East Coast of Europe into Spain, through the Straits of Gibraltar and into the Mediterranean Sea. Shortly after, they received orders to take an airport in Algiers, Algeria. Though Campbell and his men were not intended to see direct combat, they were issued submachine guns. Campbell recalls the uneasy experience being exacerbated by a film they had been watching. Before they received their guns, a Bruce Cabot film was being screened. Cabot’s character owned a similar gun to the one they had been issued but when he needed to shoot, the gun jammed. Campbell laughs when he tells the story, but he said the film did not bring the crew much levity.

After a number of missions to other sites in Africa, including Tunis, Campbell was sent to Italy . There he stopped through Naples and on his way to Rome, was one of the few to see the Allied bombing of the famous Monte Cassino Monastery, one of Europe’s most treasured works of architecture lost in World War II.

Campbell was then stationed in Corsica where he and his company spent 37 days in daily contact with enemy forces. He recalls this experience as being one of the most physically demanding of his time in the Army, hiking and climbing mountainous terrain daily.

Before the war officially ended, Campbell made brief stops in France, Germany and Great Britain. In 1945, he was reunited with Joanna in Staten Island. Campbell remembers that as his ship approached the New York coast, excited soldiers were constantly instructed not to move to one side of the ship for fear of capsizing.

After a brief move back to Colorado in order for Frank to finish his degree in Mechanical Engineering, the couple settled in Hackensack to raise their sons Bruce and Lee. Over the years, Campbell worked as an engineer privately and for the Port Authority. He worked on the project to build the second level of the George Washington Bridge, the same bridge, whose construction he watched as a teenager in 1931. Campbell retired in 1983, but he still maintains his license as an engineer. “I don’t plan on working any projects, but you never know when you might need it,” said Campbell. With Joanna passed away, he spends his time maintaining his home, being a grandfather of four and thinking of ways to help improve Hackensack. 

[Editor]

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Thank You, Frank

Nobility comes in all shapes and forms. We recognize kings and queens, dukes and knights for their royalty and categorize them as nobles.

Our mistake is presuming everything noble automatically equals riches. But we forget that service, dignity and perseverance in the face of conflict also refer to things that can be noble, things that described the good nature and intention of Frank Campbell.

He didn’t plant the first seed that sprouted into this city, but he was one of the residents responsible for making Hackensack the suburban metropolis that it is today. Mr. Campbell, a friend to The Chronicle and one of Hackensack’s most active residents, passed away last Saturday, leaving behind his own family and those who became his family.

Through all the changes at City Hall, Mr. Campbell has been the one constant. He attended as many council meetings as possible and voiced his opinions on just about anything, regardless of the tone of the meeting or whether or not any other member of the public seemed to care.

He was courageous and fought for the silent majority. Mr. Campbell cared about rising taxes and homeless shelters. He also cared if there was a crack in a neighbor’s sidewalk or a pothole in front of his neighbors driveway.

His family’s legacy includes a great grandfather who was Hackensack’s first Postmaster, another relative who donated the property used for the cemetery on Hudson Street, and his father who was a city engineer and director of the DPW.

Mr. Campbell once served on the city’s assessment and Planning boards, but his legacy will be marked by his unwavering dedication outside the official capacity. He has set the bar for civic participation, and his good spirit will never leave City Hall.

For service, dignity and perseverance, we thank Frank Campbell and, with regret, say goodbye.