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R.I.P. Dr. Campbell
Doctor, Professor, Pastor, Teacher and all around good guy Jefferson Holland Campbell died Friday, June 30. His memorial service was Friday, July 7.
He will be missed.
Unfortunately I only had one class with Dr. Campbell in my five years at Midwestern State. I wish I had taken more, but its too late.
I had him for Medieval Cultures, a humanities course.
I don't think I ever learned more about the world around me than in his class. Even though he couldn't take the class around the world, his experiences brought the world to his class.
The course touched on everything from every major culture following...if I remember correctly...the Byzantine period, up until about the Renaissance.
At times you could sense the frustration as he taught. He had what appeared to be Parkinson's disease - his hands shook continuously - but he always showed up for class and it never got the best of him.
His class was informative and appealing to all the local "good ol' boys and gals" who haven't traveled out of Texas.
He demanded a lot of work, but unlike most professors at MSU he didn't spoon feed anyone.
Something about Dr. Campbell was different. He was brilliant, but he carried an aura around him. I'm not sure really what it was.
So after about 32 years at MSU, how will the English dept. and the rest of the university carry on? Much like the tree from Walden's Pond he frequented, it will just have to be his memory that survives.
Posted by Clayton Hein at 05:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Comments
I can't believe he died! He was a great teacher and I am sure he will be missed dearly. I had know idea he died so long ago. I still remember the day he came in and told us he had cancer, it was really sad.
