A life of faith and compassionate service

By living what he believed, Paul Campbell built connections with others

By: Janine LeGal

Everyone — friends, family, colleagues and strangers alike — knew they could trust him, the guy with the big heart and the kindness in his eyes.

In a world in which everyday life can be a struggle, Rev. Dr. Paul Marshall Campbell was there for those who needed him. A United Church of Canada minister, husband, father, grandfather and friend, Paul died on July 5, 2023, at age 80.

Born in Winnipeg and raised in Elmwood, the neighbourhood that would remain centrally important to him throughout his life, Paul received his bachelor of arts degree from the University of Winnipeg, entered the faculty of theology and, in 1966, was ordained to ministry in the United Church of Canada.

Ethel was by his side for all of that and more. She met Paul in junior high. Both were involved with the United Church young people’s groups, teaching Sunday school and attending the same dances. They had a lot in common and married in 1965.

“The church was important in both of our lives, our youth groups with downtown kids, street recreation programs. It was a great time to be connected,” she said.

When he wasn’t involved in church activities, Ethel remembers Paul playing the grand piano like a rock star.

“He’s got the slicked-back hair … music was his everything,” she recalled fondly. “He used to play the music for the high school dances. He loved rock ‘n’ roll, including Jerry Lee Lewis.

“His mom taught him piano, his dad taught him the violin. Then he started playing the mandolin,” she said, adding that he continued to play music until his failing health prevented him from doing so.

Over the years, the couple lived and served in several communities, including Elkhorn and Morden. The family spent a year in Oxford, England, where Paul continued studying theology and serving churches. He served as Saskatchewan Conference Pastoral Relations Minister and later at Westminster United Church in Regina.

In 1975, Paul was invited to Norway House to provide resources for men to study theology.

“He had lots of connections with the Aboriginal church and took great learnings from them,” said Ethel. “He was honoured to be named an honorary elder; it was a highlight of his life.”

In 1985, Paul was called to Regents Park United Church in Winnipeg and in 1997 the National Church appointed him as the director of a new community-based program for ordination (IPCO). During all of these moves, Ethel found comfort in the many friendships they made along the way.

“Doing it together made it easy,” she said. “We made terrific friends. We always were aware of people caring for us. Paul just had a way about him that he connected with people. They felt supported and cared for.”

During the AIDS epidemic, Paul worked with people in need of support and care, representing the church as part of a group ministry for persons with AIDS, at a time when many would not get involved.

He received an honorary doctorate of divinity from St. Andrew’s College in Saskatoon. Appointed an honorary elder for the Sandy Saulteaux Spiritual Centre, he was asked to be a listener for the Residential Schools Hearings. Paul served on the boards of the Winnipeg Halfway Homes and Oak Table Ministry and was an Alcoholics Anonymous fifth-step listener, encouraging members to acknowledge their struggles and whatever harm they caused to themselves and others, a role he maintained until his death.

Ethel and Paul had three children, and endured the excruciating loss of two of them: their son to cancer at age 33 and their daughter to ALS at age 47. With the help and support of others, they found solace.

“The only thing I can put it down to is people praying,” said Ethel. “We had a strength that wasn’t our own. We would sit down and cry and we were able to carry on. We had lots of wonderful and amazing friends, and I thank God for them every day.”

For older sister Ruth Campbell, Paul was the perfect addition to their family.

“I was six and a half when he was born. He was pretty precious from day one for me,” she said.

“Paul was a kind person. He wanted to be able to blend in. He was comfortable with people from halfway houses, from Oak Table, or from the higher echelons of the United Church — not in any way ostentatious. … He just drew people to him. It was not a conscious thing. He wanted to know people.

“He was a really good brother. If I had a problem, I would often share it with him. A couple of sentences, and I had a different perspective on the whole thing and he’d turn it around for me. It was just simple for him.”

Lifelong friend Bob Haverluck remembers Paul as a unique, generous-hearted, socially engaged character, sensitive to the struggles and wounds of those around him.

“He had a wonderful capacity to attend to folks… the workings of their hearts in times of crisis, sorrow and bewilderment. But also, too, in helping facilitate celebrations in peoples’ life journeys. Paul worked with communities and individuals in negotiating conflicts, difficult decisions about paths to seek. Mainly, Paul simply tried to live what he believed.”

In the eulogy for his friend, Steve Willey wrote that Paul was no more a saint than the rest of us and no less a saint, either.

“Paul was a living reminder that each of us has a place in the sweet wonder of how good it is to be — and how good we can be.

“And his gregarious determination to be a companion and friend to so many is a living reminder that we cannot — and need not — contend with the bitter wonders of human existence on our own.”