Martin John Campbell's Obituary
Martin John Campbell was born in London on January 17, 1932, to William Archibald Campbell and Marianne Alsie Campbell, nee Martin. He remained in London until the war came and his parents were evacuated, his teacher mother to Whaddon, in Buckinghamshire, and his father, a King’s College registrar, to Bristol. Martin accompanied his dad to the coast, but with the fall of France, he was sent to Whaddon to be with his mother. His family sold their London home and he came to call this small village home. Soon after his arrival, his mother chose to send him to Brackley, Magdalen College School, in Northhamptonshire. There he stayed from the age of eight until his seventeenth year. A lover of sports, particularly rugby and cricket, he played not only on the school team, but also for the local clubs. He continued his education at the University of London and King’s College where he read law. He joined the University of London Air Squadron and became a student pilot, soloing first on a Tiger Moth. He acquired an English law degree, but with the impending Korean War, was sent to the States to train on fighters. He was stationed at Bainbridge, Georgia; San Marcos and Waco, Texas. He left the states and spent eighteen months in the Middle East, flying Venoms and Vampires. While stationed in Iraq, he married Monte Sue Gunter, a nurse from Winter Haven, Florida. He met her during the Bainbridge days when the pilots and nearby nurses in training at Chattahoochee held mixers and dances. They were married in Winter Haven. Martin was soon posted to Kenya on the Mau Mau Campaign. After six months in Kenya, Martin and Sue moved to RAF Shawbury, Anglesey. While stationed there, the first of their three daughters, Suzanne, was born. Preferring the warm climate of Florida, Martin resigned his commission as a Flight Lieutenant, and moved his young family to the United States. Here in Florida, he held many jobs including an insurance investigator and vocational rehabilitation counselor. Soon, another daughter, Marianne was born, followed by Sandra two years later. Hearing the call to the ministry, he enrolled at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. He moved the family to Sewanee and for the next three years, earned a degree in theology. He served several Episcopal churches, including Palmetto and Port St. Lucie, in South Florida. He also was an interim priest at both Eustis and Mount Dora in his later years. An active Rotarian, he happened upon the president of Florida State Law School at a state meeting. He expressed that he was a frustrated lawyer, having an English law degree and no way to practice in the U.S. The president gave him hope, telling him that he could enroll for one year at F.S.U. Law School and sit for the bar since his English degree was based on common law. He enrolled, passed his classes and the bar in 1975, all the while commuting to Tallahassee and back to Avon Park as a part-time rector. In 1978, with children grown, he and Sue moved to Tavares where he became a prosecutor, working for Gordon Oldham. During this time, he also served as vicar of St. Francis in Bushnell. Always a wonderer, he explored the world from the Arctic Circle, to Antarctica, and hundreds of points in between. In his travels, he visited over one hundred countries. He was fluent in French and made a point of learning some of the language of the countries he would visit. Martin had strong political views and served as the Democratic Party Chairman in Lake County. His wife Sue died in 1992 while they were in Kenya. He remained single until 1995 when he married Pamela Catrett Worley, whom he met through a mutual friend. They both shared a love of travel, literature and plays, music, and restoration. He frequently volunteered at the schools where she worked as a counselor. They purchased a home in her hometown of Brantley, Alabama, and spent countless weekends and vacations restoring the home which they named Campbell Cottage.
He helped raise her daughters, Hollie and Courtney, and treated them as if they were his own. He followed their tennis matches and school events. They both followed in his footsteps, Hollie as a lawyer and Courtney as a Florida State University graduate.
He is preceded in death by his parents, his first wife, and son-in-law Chris Allen. He is survived by his second wife and children, Suzanne Campbell, Marianne Allen, Sandra Plitt, Hollie Reed (husband Charles), Courtney Nelson (husband Brien). He also leaves behind four grandsons, Max Allen (wife Keri) , Daniel Allen, Richard Allen, James Campbell Nelson, and one granddaughter, Angela Plitt. In addition, he had two great grandsons, Brayden Allen and Brantley Allen. In England, he leaves behind several cousins and three aunts.
Martin John Campbell peacefully left this world on December 18, 2013, in the presence of several family members and a friend.
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