Patricia Campbell

Patricia Campbell (Killian), age 82, joined her son, Mathew Patrick Campbell, in Heaven during the early morning hours of April 12th, 2020.

A life-long resident of Michigan, Patricia was born on November 22nd, 1937 in Midland, MI. The youngest of four children, she demonstrated a genuine curiosity about life at a young age, eventually cultivating a healthy passion for formal education. After graduating from Midland Dow High School, Patricia became the first person in her family to attend and graduate from university, earning Bachelor of Arts degrees in Education and History from Central Michigan University, and a Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

Patricia was soon after employed as an elementary school teacher in downtown Flint, MI, loving the children entrusted to her care as well as the challenging environment. She moved on to the Bentley School District, where her love for her work grew as did her protective oversight for the children attending her school. In her spare time, she would tutor 1st generation children living in her neighborhood.

Patricia spent her entire professional career in teaching, eventually retiring as Principal of Barhitte Elementary School (Burton, MI). She was nominated for Michigan’s Teacher of the Year in 1986, and escorted hundreds of children on extended multiple field trips to Washington, DC as part of the Close-Up Foundation’s Education Experience. She was also chosen to represent her district for the Close-Up Foundation’s Educator Exchange field trip, traveling to Nara, Japan to live with, observe, and exchange education ideas with Japanese educators.

Patricia married, and in time welcomed her children, Christopher, Robin, Becky, Matthew, and Andrew to the world. She emphasized the importance of education by introducing not only the pleasure of books but also newspapers so that her children would become aware of current events (making sure we were awake to watch the Apollo 11 moon landing). She was immeasurably proud that all of her surviving children went on to pursue higher education.

Patricia remained a voracious reader of books on a variety of topics, including history, biographies, and current events. She loved to travel: In addition to taking trips to her children’s homes in Washington, DC, Yokohama, Japan, Memphis/Southaven, MS, Munsterappel, West Germany, New Orleans, LA, or Overland Park, KS, she traveled on multiple occasions to Europe as well as to the much-loved Outer Banks of North Carolina, the Rockies in Colorado, and the Black Hills in South Dakota. She enjoyed cultivating her English garden and working on her lawn, of which drew the admiration of neighbors. Patricia was also a gifted interior designer and enjoyed genealogical research, taking great pride in tracing her family’s history back to colonial Virginia and the Revolutionary War.

Patricia was preceded in death by her father, Ernest Killian; her mother, Maude Killian; her sister Delores Jean Davis; her sister, Julie Killian Badder; her brother, Charles Robert Killian; and her son, Mathew Patrick Campbell.

Patricia is survived by her son Christopher Jon Campbell, his wife, Cynthia of Ann Arbor, MI, and their two daughters Emily and Katie of New York, NY; her daughter Robin Elizabeth Campbell of Swartz Creek, MI; her daughter Becky Jean Sprague, her husband, Robert Bartek, Jr. of Fenton, MI, and their daughter Megan Yurk, her husband Russell, and their two children, Rowan Matthew and Caleb Robert; her son Andrew Campbell, of Swartz Creek, MI; and her closest friend, LaNay Cooke of Fenton, MI, as well as nieces, nephews and other dear friends.

The Campbell family would like to thank the staff of Ascension Genesys Hospital’s TCU Unit for its outstanding service and loving care for our mother’s comfort, as well as Dr. Larry Braver and his staff, Glenda and Martha, for the exemplary life-long care provided to our mother.

Given current circumstances, private funeral and burial services will take place at New Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Flint Township, Michigan. However, the Campbell family would like to host a Celebration of Life party later this year, when conditions allow.

Memorial donations may be made in Patricia’s memory to Food Bank of Eastern Michigan, 2300 Lapeer Rd, Flint, MI 48503. Website: www.fbem.org and phone # (810) 239-4441 .

Tributes may be shared at www.sharpfuneralhomes.com.