Tributes paid to founding member of Bognor Hotham Rotary Club

Hard working, enthusiastic, generous and kind, with a wry sense of humour, family members said Keith Campbell remained ‘resolutely himself’ throughout the final weeks of his life, despite his waning health.

The lifelong solicitor with Chamberlain Martin was a well regarded mentor to colleagues, a source of professional wisdom to peers and friends, retiring in 2019 having struggled with heart failure for some time. After a three week period during which his health got worse, he died on November 1, aged 70.

But health problems never stopped the Felpham local from being himself.

“Although his health was declining, he was still fairly active up until the end,” said daughter Louise Hall.

“We still did lots of family outings. He wasn’t incapacitated by his ill-health up until he died and, although he only had two proper years of retirement, he made the most of them.”

That’s not surprising. Between red wine, Southern France, Jewish history and the music of The Beatles, Mr Campbell was a man of many passions, and he made sure to enjoy all of them. Alongside the success of his children and grandchildren, one of Mr Campbell’s proudest achievements was walking St Cuthbert’s way to Holy Island with his wife, Miriam- part of a challenge for his 60th birthday.

“He had a tremendous work ethic, but he was also really fun to be around,” Mrs Hall said. “The thing I will miss most about him is staying up late into the night, drinking red wine, listening to music, and putting the world to rights.”

A dedicated Rotarian, Mr Campbell was also a founding member of the Bognor-Hotham Rotary Club.

Mrs Hall said the club has been ‘very supportive’: “We had a lovely message from the president, who obviously spread the word through to the wider network.

“They’ve been really lovely. They sent mum a big bouquet of flowers on November 12 because it was my dad’s birthday. It was very kind.”

Mr Campbell’s private family funeral will be held on November 18, and his family have decided to raise money for the acute cardiac unit at St Richard’s Hospital in his memory. Memorial donations are to be made via Reynolds Funerals, by visiting reynoldsfunerals.co.uk.