David Colin Campbell

Oct. 5, 1942 - May 8, 2025

David Campbell age 82, died in Bakersfield, CA on May 8, 2025, from complications of Parkinson's disease. David was born in Hancock, ME, a surprise third child to Charlotte Hubbard Campbell and Rev. Thomas Campbell. He grew up in the New England towns where his father pastored and spent every summer near extended family in the Maine town where his mother’s family had lived since before the revolution. As a young adult, he worked as a counselor at Camp Chewonki in Edgecomb, Maine, where he led outdoor adventures, hikes up Mt. Katahdin and canoe trips in the Maine waterways. Like his father and older brother, David was called to church ministries, and pursued his profession through studies at Bates College (‘64), Union Theological Seminary (‘69) and New York Theological Seminary (‘75). In the summer of ‘66, he joined a group of Union divinity students for a year working and living in Georgia with a Civil Rights voter registration project — an experience that sculpted his heart and worldview. He went on to lead churches in Maine before accepting a post in Bakersfield with College Heights Congregational Church. After almost two decades as a pastor, he traded the pulpit for a chalkboard, and the congregation for a class. Children had always been drawn to his calm, gentle but playful nature, and he thrived as a 5th grade teacher at Bessie Owens and Pioneer Drive Elementary Schools with BCSD for nearly twenty years. In his last year of teaching, he was still quick to join a kickball game or a challenge to prove whether he was “the fastest kid in the class.” From his childhood years to the end of his life, he loved being in nature: the Maine coast, California deserts, water or mountains anywhere. Later he became a mountain biking enthusiast. When he managed to sit still he was an avid reader of history, theology and natural history and could be lovably nerdy — his gentle, dry humor often centered on the quirkiness of language. Even as Parkinson's robbed his motor skills and some memory, his pun-making neurons remained quick and nimble. Survivors include his “beautiful bride” of 54 years, Diana (Dinah) with whom he fell in love over a year-long courtship through letters, his two much-adored daughters, Hannah Campbell of Los Osos, CA and Meredith Weiss of Austin, TX, their wonderful spouses, Samuel Cordero, Jesse Weiss, and 3 equally remarkable grandchildren - Zachary, Vivian and Nolan Weiss. He was preceded in death by his parents and brother, Rev. Thomas Campbell and sister, Judith Campbell Joyce Pinney. Memorial services will be held 10:30am, July 19, 2025, at First Congregational Church in Bakersfield. A classic church-style potluck will follow. (Information on the potluck will be available as the memorial date nears). In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Parkinson’s Foundation, First Congregational Church’s Food Pantry, the Southwest Georgia Project (http://www.swgaproject.com/) or the local Kern-Kaweah Chapter of the Sierra Club.