Lloyd Campbell

Lloyd Victor Campbell, 88, of Raytown, Missouri, passed away Sunday, July 10, 2016.

Memorial gathering will be held from 6-7:30 p.m., with a tribute and veteran salute from 7:30-8, Thursday, July 14, 2016, at Missouri Funeral Care, 6113 Blue Ridge Blvd, Raytown, Missouri. Graveside services at Noon, Saturday, July 16, at Piedmont Cemetery, Piedmont, Kansas. Donations in Lloyd’s honor may be made to the Raytown Historical Society, 9705 E. 63rd. Street, Raytown, Missouri 64133.

Lloyd was born April 5, 1928, in Piedmont, to Lester and Eva (Philipi) Campbell. He graduated from Piedmont High School in 1946, and immediately enlisted in the U. S. Navy near the end of World War II. He became an airplane electrician. After basic training at San Diego, California, he and sailed aboard the U.S.S. Leyte, CV9, from Norfolk, Virginia, on two peacemaking tours of the Mediterranean and one to South America. He was in Fighting Squadron Eighteen (VF-18) and VF-7A, before returning to Quonset Point, Rhode Island, and being discharged on February 16, 1948, and entering the U.S. Navy Reserves.

He married Carolyn Ramsey in 1949 while attending the Kansas City School of Watch Making.

On May 25, 1951, Lloyd said, “Harry Truman called me from the Reserves to help him with the Korean War.” He reported to Fighter Squadron Fifty Three (VF-53), at North Island Naval Air Station in San Diego, California, and went aboard the U.S.S. Essex, CV9, from July 1951 to March 1952. The next month, he was at Miramar Naval Air Station north of San Diego until September 30, when he was released to inactive duty as Aviation Electricians Mate 2^nd Class. Lloyd was discharged February 16, 1953, with more than six years of service.

After years of hearing war stories, Lloyd’s family learned only the day before his death that he had been given the name “Sparky” in the Navy. In the early 1970s, Lloyd and his best friend, Bob Benschoff, built a Tri-Pacer airplane in Lloyd’s garage.

Liberty Memorial’s Walk of Honor and the Library of Congress’s Veterans History Project commemorate Lloyd’s wartime service, and he was a member of the Tiery J. Ford Post of the American Legion—Truman’s home post—for many years.

Returning home, Lloyd began working as a parking attendant at City National Bank and Trust, and worked his way up. With full-custody of his three daughters, Lloyd married Pat (Swetnam) Elsea in 1962. They moved from Ruskin Heights to Raytown in 1969 where Lloyd worked for Laurel Bank of Raytown. He was retired as Vice President/Assistant Cashier from its successor, American Bank, in 1989.

Lloyd was a member of the Alexander Majors Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, Chapter 91 of the Experimental Aircraft Association, and a charter member of the Raytown Historical Society. He was very proud to have been instrumental in erecting the Society’s first historical marker, “Ray’s Blacksmith Shop,” at the corner of 63^rd and Raytown Road in downtown Raytown.

Lloyd and Pat served in many capacities in support of the Jackson County Exchange Club; rang bells for Salvation Army; attended annual Piedmont High School reunions and hosted family reunions at the Campbell family’s 1880s Possum Trot homestead every Memorial Day weekend; and, were always ready and willing to help family, friends and neighbors who will never forget Lloyd’s ability to fix ANYTHING…and tell ‘colorful’ jokes.

They traveled to Australia and New Zealand, gardened, and visited daughters and grandchildren near and far. After celebrating their 40^th Anniversary in Swope Park in 2002, Pat died the following year. Lloyd met Janet Smith and their families became close before Janet died unexpectedly in 2010.

Lloyd is survived by a sister, Naomi Claycomb, Wichita, Kansas; three daughters, Marcia Campbell, Centennial, Colorado; Cindy McNulty, Largo, Florida; and Carol Butler (Rich), Dayton, Ohio; eight grandchildren, David W. Jackson (Russ Howerton), Greenwood, Missouri; Nathan Jackson (Jennifer), Buffalo, New York; Aaron Talbott (Andrea), Kettering, Ohio; Emily Talbott (James), Raytown, Missouri; Debbie Talbott, Columbus, Ohio; Justin McNulty, Largo, Florida; Heidi Casteel (Jesse), Independence, Missouri, and Sean Jones (Allison), Largo, Florida; 10 great-grandchildren; and, lots of nieces, nephews and cousins.