William (Bill) Richard Campbell

William (Bill) Richard Campbell

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of William R. Campbell. Bill, or “Willeye” among his friends, was always the life of the party and the person everyone wanted to be around.

He grew up in Winnipeg and was Lorriane and Leonard Campbell’s third child. He is survived by his wife Marr, son Morgan (Kaitlyn) and grandson Willliam along with his siblings Dave (Pat) Campbell and Pat Reid as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

He spent countless hours during his childhood playing hockey at the Crescentwood Community Centre. Bill continued playing throughout adulthood even after taking a puck to the face that resulted in dozens of stitches and a partially blind eye, albeit with a facemask afterwards! One of Bill’s hockey highlights was playing a match-up in Europe where his team was mistaken for team Canada and were therefore matched against the German national team; needless to say they did not win that game. Bill’s love for hockey extended beyond playing as he was an avid NHL fan and longtime season ticket holder of the Winnipeg Jets and Manitoba Moose.

Bill was also involved with the Winnipeg Blue Bomber football team as a past board member and part of a close group of friends that travelled to dozens of Grey Cups together.

A graduate from the University of Manitoba, Bill earned his Chartered Accounting degree and was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity where he formed many lifelong friendships. After doing an accounting internship where he had to count slaughtered beef inventory, Bill quickly realized that public accounting wasn’t for him so he began his entrepreneurial career with Thomas Rathwell LTD and then started his own business named CHC Sales.

With his marriage to Marr, who was the love of his life and lifelong partner, Morgan was born a couple years later. Bill embraced fatherhood playing numerous sports with Morgan along with coaching his hockey teams. Their bond developed further as Morgan grew older by sharing time together on the golf course and Bill would often caddie for him during tournaments. Bill would be first to admit that he probably didn’t teach Morgan much about the golf swing but his support was unwavering and he was always there to listen to every post round recap.

They had another bond through their love of music, especially The Rolling Stones and Bill took Morgan to his first concert to see them perform when he was only eleven. From then on, Morgan and Bill attended many concerts together including a Tool concert that Bill never let us forget!

Golf became a central part of Bill’s life. He was a longtime member at St. Charles Country Club where he enjoyed weekly games with his Thursday Thrashers and other close friends during the Winnipeg summers. Some of Bill’s fondest golf memories were the recent father-son golf trips taken with Morgan and the Ringaerts where they would play fourball matches during the day to see who covered the nightly beverages.

Over the last few years, Bill embraced his new role as “Bampa” to his grandson William who was named in his honor. Bill was always making William laugh in as many ways as possible and loved reading him stories or throwing him around in the pool.

We will miss your smile, your crazy humor and all the love you had for us.  

As per Bill’s wishes, there will be no funeral service. Instead, wherever you are, play Forever Young and have a R&C in his honor.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the St. Boniface Hospital Foundation or to the Bruce and Anne Oake Foundation.

Tributes: www.gilbartfuneralhome.com

Gilbart Funeral Home, Selkirk in care of arrangements.

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