Harry H. Campbell, 89, retired contractor, cabinet maker and artist, died Saturday [December 9, 1978] at 10 a.m. at Gritman Memorial Hospital. He had been a patient there five days.
Campbell, known locally for his acrylic paintings, was born in Moscow [ID], Nov. 9, 1889, and spent most of his life in the Troy area. He grew up on his father’s homestead on Little Bear Ridge, and for a time tried farming himself. He quit agriculture when faced with the decision to sell his horses, acquire more land and machinery or get out.
Always proficient with tools, Campbell built his home in Troy for his wife and six children in 1927 and took up carpentry for his livelihood. He retired in 1959, after constructing several residences in Troy and Moscow, the Troy Medical Clinic and the addition to the Troy bank. He took up painting, although he never had a lesson, mainly to keep busy. “Once you start you can’t stop,” he said in an Idahonian interview in 1971.
His landscapes hang in the First Bank of Troy in Troy and were in the old Lumberjack Cafe before it burned. Cambell and the former Fern Arnot were married October 22, 1919. He was a World War I veteran and a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He was a former member of the Troy School Board. During World War II, he was employed in the shipyards at Seattle.
In addition to his wife at the family home, Campbell is survived by three sons, Warren and Howard of Spokane, and Bryce in Clarkston; three daughters, Maxine Lee of Colfax; LoRayne Sherman of Boise, and JoAnn Bennett of Vancouver, Wash.; 16 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. Two sisters and three brothers died previously. The funeral will be held Tuesday at 1 p.m. at Short’s Chapel, the Revs. Mel Skeen and Clifford Smith officiating.
Burial will be in the Burnt Ridge Cemetery, with Short’s Chapel in charge. The family suggests memorials to the Troy Nazarene Church or the Troy Ambulance Fund.
Contributed by: Shelli Steedman
