Lawyer, community activist.
Born at Winnipeg on 26 January 1960 to Sonya Campbell and Walter Scott Wright, he was named after his maternal grandfather Douglas Lloyd Campbell and his paternal great-great-grandfather Thomas Greenway, both former Premiers of Manitoba.
He grew up in the River Heights community and spent the summers of his early childhood at the family cottage at Moose Lake. Beginning in his teens, he participated with his family in building a cottage on an isolated island on Shoal Lake, Ontario, where he enjoyed all the usual activities of lake life, which continued after he married Lynne Arnason in 1992. He graduated from Kelvin High School in 1978 and from the University of Manitoba with a Bachelor of Arts (French and Spanish literature) in 1981. He spent a year of his university studies at Université Laval in Quebec City, then obtained a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Manitoba in 1984. In 1993, he earned an MBA in International Business and Export Management from City University in London, England. Campbell incorporated his love of the outdoors and being out on the water into his summer jobs, spending his summers first as a life guard, and later working for the Canadian Coast Guard on Lake Winnipeg and Georgian Bay.
He began his professional life in 1984 when he was called to the Manitoba Bar. He articled with the Department of Justice, then became an Associate with the firm Buchwald Asper Henteleff in June 1985, and a partner in the firm now known as Pitblado in 1995, where he continued to practice law until his death.
Committed to community, he was extensively involved in politics and professional and charitable organizations. He was a member of the Advocates’ Society of Manitoba and various committees of the Law Society of Manitoba. He served as a Law Society bencher from 1998 to 2002. From 1995 to 1999 he was a lecturer at the Faculty of Law, and over the years participated in teaching courses for the Law Society of Manitoba. He served as a member of the Board of Directors of several organizations including Jocelyn House Hospice (1985-1989, Chair 1989), YMCA/YWCA of Winnipeg (1989-1992, Vice-Chair 1991-1992), Canadian Club of Winnipeg (1993-1999), Manitoba Theatre Centre (1996-2002, President 2002), and Westminster Housing Society (1992-2005). He was also active in provincial and federal politics, managing several campaigns for others and himself running as a Liberal candidate for the Manitoba Legislature in the 1990 general election.
In later years, he enjoyed being at the cottage with his wife and two sons at Willow Island on Lake Winnipeg, and also at the Mountain Road farm in the hills near Neepawa, where he created miles of trails, hiked, and rode Icelandic horses. Besides hiking and riding horses, he and his wife Lynne enjoyed travel, sailing, theatre, and entertaining friends and family in their home. He was a fourth generation member of the Westminster United Church. Known for his kindness, generosity, zest for life, and commitment to family and community, many considered him a source of inspiration for his sense of humility and his courage in facing the rare disease amyloidosis that eventually took his life.
He died at Winnipeg on 6 November 2005.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 8 November 2005.
This page was prepared by Lois Braun.
Page revised: 2 March 2024
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