Howard O. Campbell

Howard Owen Campbell, of Fayetteville, WV, previously of Cincinnati, Ohio, died Monday, January 26th at Raleigh General Hospital in Beckley, WV at the age of 78. Born December 7, 1930 in Cincinnati, OH he was the son of the late Chester and Helen Townsley Campbell. Howard was a graduate of Withrow High School and the University of Cincinnati and a US Army veteran of the Korean War. In his early years, he was an amateur weightlifter and body builder having won the title of Mr. Cincinnati in 1955. Howard began his career with the Richardson Merrill Pharmaceutical Company in Cincinnati in the data processing department and served as controller for several years before retiring as executive vice president of Merrill Dow in 1982 to pursue other ventures. His crowning achievements at Richardson Merrell included negotiating the contract for producing the swine flu vaccine for the U.S. government where he had a private meeting with President Ford in the Oval Office and donating a small research facility to the Jonas Salk Institute which enabled him to meet the great Jonas Salk on several occasions. He lived in Forest Park, Ohio for 22 years with his wife, Mary Lou, while raising their 7 children. He founded The Rivermen - a Fayetteville, WV based whitewater rafting company, in the spring of 1980 with his son, Steve and began operations with two pickup trucks and an old family camper on the rim of the New River Gorge overlooking the town of Thurmond. In the spring of 1984, the Rivermen relocated its base of operations to the current site off US highway 19, 2 miles south of the New River Gorge Bridge. Under his leadership, the Rivermen became an industry innovator, introducing the first whitewater rafting videos, pioneering the half day trips on the New River and becoming one of the first rafting companies to create a lodging and activity resort concept that has become the industry standard. His wife, Mary Lou Havens Campbell and brother, Jim Campbell, preceded him in death. Surviving are his 5 sons, Steve Campbell, Doug Campbell, Brian (Jessica) Campbell, Gary (Melissa) Campbell of Fayetteville, WV and Howard (Rosemary) Campbell of Celebration, Fl.; his 2 daughters, Karen Campbell of Fayetteville, WV and Shirlie (Mark) Scherzinger of Cincinnati, Ohio, 5 granddaughters, Kelly, Haven, Sam, Kari and Shaylyn and 5 grandsons, Mason, Cody, Morgan, Alex and Colin; brother, John Campbell of Dallas, Texas and his longtime soul mate, Marylu Walker of Oak Hill, WV. A celebration of his life will be held at Rezan’s in Fayetteville, WV located at the intersection of US 19 and Laurel Creek Road from 2pm to 5pm on Saturday, January 31, 2009. Memorial donations may be made to the American Lung Association, PO Box 3980, Charleston, WV 25339. Online condolences may be sent at www.tyreefuneralhome.com Arrangements by Tyree Funeral Home, Oak Hill, WV