Executive was in Ohio Movers Hall of Fame

12/6/2001

Charles E. Campbell, a retired moving company executive, died unexpectedly at his Perrysburg home Tuesday.

He was 78 and collapsed while working in his yard.

The cause of death has not been determined.

Mr. Campbell had a 35-year career with the former Moreton Storage Co., advancing from a sales position in which he did cost estimates for jobs to general manager and to vice president.

He was one of the few nonowners to be inducted into the Ohio Movers Hall of Fame, according to his son, the Rev. Chuck Campbell, pastor of All Saints Lutheran Church in South Toledo.

“He loved the moving business, and was good at it,” Mr. Campbell said. “He was one of the leaders in the nation as far as his knowledge of the moving business was concerned. And he had only a high school education.”

A survivor of prostate cancer, Mr. Campbell was a volunteer in the prostate cancer support group at St. Luke's Hospital. “He really wanted to help other men going through the same thing. He was always there at the yearly prescreening program,” Pastor Campbell said.

This concern for victims of prostate cancer stemmed from his affection for people in general, Gerilyn Campbell, Mr. Campbell's daughter-in-law, said. “He was a loving, caring man. He really was. He was a Christian man.”

Mr. Campbell and his wife, Evelyn, were married for 53 years. He was an Army veteran of World War II, serving as a medic stateside and in France.

Mr. Campbell grew up in South Toledo and graduated from the former Macomber Vocational High School after attending Libbey High School.

He was a charter member of the Perrysburg Rotary Club and of Zoar Lutheran Church, where he served on numerous committees. Other memberships included the Zenobia Shrine, the American Legion, the Elks Lodge, and the Northern Wood County Republicans.

Surviving are his wife, Evelyn; daughter, Cheryl Kohring; sons, Chuck and Craig, and eight grandchildren.

A memorial service will be at 1 p.m. Saturday in Zoar Lutheran Church. The family requests memorial tributes to Zoar's organ fund. Ansberg-West Funeral Directors are in charge of arrangements.