February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Born in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, in 1924, he was working as an apprentice baker in the South by the age of 15. But fate and greater opportunity intervened when the bakery he worked for burned down – eventually setting him on course for a new career in Europe, as a tutor with the Workers Education Association.
In Germany, his experiences showed him that cities could be rebuilt, a powerful lesson that helped shape his understanding of the scale and importance of urban studies.
His work in Germany led to an invitation to come to the United States, where he was admitted in 1954. In the mid-1950s, he also met and married his wife Marguerite “Peggy” Brown.
He began his studies at undergraduate level – working as a gardener whilst taking classes – and he eventually completed his master’s and doctorate degrees.
Campbell joined the faculty of Cleveland State University in 1966, where in 1967 he co-founded the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs. He then directed the urban studies program from 1969 to 1975.
An educator and a community activist, Campbell was a phenomenon. He developed a television series that charted the contribution made by ethnic communities to the cities’ development in “We Who Built America.” He also wrote articles, encyclopedia entries and books about the history of Cleveland and he founded the Irish American Archives, which included a history of the Irish in Ohio.
“His great talent was in bringing people together across disciplines and interests. He had that Irish sparkle and lilt that people respond to,” his wife Peggy said. “And in a real sense he represented the American Dream at work.”
His experiences with the local Irish community were initially fraught. “He found many of them to be bigoted in their outlooks, which was a genuine disappointment to him. But over the years his interest in his heritage and in the Irish contribution to this part of the world kept growing.”
His public spirit encouraged him to become a candidate for mayor of Cleveland in 1977, but he exited the race after a two-month campaign.
A past president of the City Club, he played a key role in opening the all-male organization to women.
Surviving with his wife are his son Thomas F. III and grandson Thomas F. IV and granddaughter Victoria Elizabeth.
The family prefers that those who wish may make contributions in his name do so to the Thomas F. Campbell Scholarship Fund, c/o Cleveland State University Foundation, 2121 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, OH 44115.
A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. on Dec. 16 in the atrium of the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs, 1717 Euclid Ave., Cleveland.