Campbell, served on original Board of Representatives, dies at 96

By Max Bakke
Journal Inquirer
Published: Tuesday, August 4, 2009 11:41 AM EDT

VERNON — Morgan Campbell, a longtime Republican who served on the Town Council for several years starting in the 1960s, is being remembered by friends as a levelheaded man with a penchant for honesty and procedure.

Campbell, a lifelong Vernon resident, died last week. He was 96.

Resident Steve Wakefield said his father became close friends with Campbell when the Wakefield family moved to Vernon in the 1950s. Wakefield’s father worked with Campbell at Pratt & Whitney Aircraft in East Hartford.

Campbell, he said, was a man of integrity when it came to local issues, and always acted for the betterment of the community.

“He loved Rockville… The time he spent was totally dedicated to make it a better place to live,” Wakefield said.

Campbell served on several local boards and commissions, including the Northeast School Building Committee, Board of Education, council, and the original Board of Representatives before Rockville and Vernon were consolidated in the mid-1960s.

“He was a gentleman politician. You always knew where he stood on issues,” former Town Clerk Henry Butler said.

Wakefield said of Campbell’s era, “It was a time when we met in smoky rooms and worked things out instead of yelling at each other on television.”

Campbell also was active in his church, the Rockville United Methodist Church, and was part of the committee to construct the Grove Street building. He also was a former Scoutmaster.

As for his family, he was also a loving husband to wife Alice, friends said, and kept impeccable records.

“If you needed to know any numbers, you’d call Morgan and he’d give them to you,” Nancy Osborn, a fellow Republican Town Committee member, said.

In addition to his wife, Campbell is survived by two daughters, Devon Newman, of Los Angeles, Calif., and Sharing Forsyth and her husband, Jim, of Quincy, Mass.; two sons, Gregory Slack of Hartford, Vt., and Jeffrey Slack and his wife, Tamson, of South Royalton, Vt.; and numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, and nephews.