MADISON – David L. Campbell sadly passed away suddenly of natural causes on Sept. 26, 2023. Born in Island Falls, Maine on March 23, 1944, David was the son of Basil Scott Campbell and Hazel Mildred (Wilkins) Campbell.

In his earlier years, David worked on the family farm in Crystal, Maine. He graduated from Island Falls High School, then attended Husson College in Bangor and worked at a local Texaco Station while in school. It was during that time in 1962 that he met Dawna Johnson. They were engaged on Christmas Day in 1965. Following graduation from Husson College, David enlisted in the U.S. Army. While on leave, he married the love of his life, Dawna, on Dec. 21, 1966. He then was deployed to Vietnam. After his honorable discharge, the couple moved to Maine where David began his teaching career in 1969 where he taught business classes for thirty years. He learned how to use the first computers and put them together in his classroom. He also taught adult education at night for many years. He was a great teacher (some students referred to him as a “big teddy bear”). He had many students whom he loved and kept in touch with many years later. During his summers, he mowed for the State and then started haying for Anthony Shusta, Sr.

Upon retiring from Madison High School, he taught driver’s education for several years. He loved driving with the students and taking them on back roads and pulling the emergency break to teach them how to drive in “real” Maine conditions.

David was a hardworking man who loved his family. He loved to snowmobile, go on side-by-side rides with his friends, collecting Lionel trains, spending time outdoors, running his grandsons to various sports practices, and reading. He spent many years volunteering for the Abnaki Sno-Riders placing stakes, grooming trails, and helping make turkey pies.

He will be remembered for many things including his strength, work-ethic, dry sense of humor, sarcasm, and his red-faced chuckle. David was a beloved husband, father, brother, uncle but the title he loved most was Papa.

David is predeceased by his parents, older brothers, Scotty Campbell and Edward Campbell. David is survived by his wife of fifty-six years, Dawna Johnson Campbell; his daughter, LeeAnne Newton and her husband Shawn; his daughter Catherine Cloutier; and his grandsons, Logan Cloutier, Ayden Cloutier, and Jackson Newton. He also loved his granddaughters, Saré, Javyn, and Addison.

David also leaves behind many nieces, nephews, students, and friends and some very special people he considered family.

The burial will take place on Thursday, November 9, 2023 at 1 p.m., at the niche wall in the old cemetery at the Maine Veterans Cemetery, 143 Blue Star Avenue Augusta, Maine. A celebration of David’s life is scheduled for Friday, November 10, 2023 at the American Legion Tardiff-Belanger Post 39, 20 South Maple Street, Madison, Maine.

In lieu of flowers, the family kindly asks for donations to the Wounded Warriors Project.

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