By Susan Stevenson
When you attend church services at Arborlawn United Methodist Church, you are quite likely to see Gene Campbell. His face is very familiar because he is active in our congregation. Until recently, he was a faithful member of the Arborlawn Chancel Choir. He enjoys being a member of the Friendship Class, where he has been a member since he came to Fort Worth in 1998.
Gene was born at home in 1927 on a poor Indian lease farm near Hobart, Oklahoma. Much of the land at that time in Oklahoma was owned by Native Americans. Oscar Nocona was the man who owned the land but let them rent it for farming. Farming was hard work in those days. In 1927, Calvin Coolidge was President. The first transatlantic phone call was made from New York to London, and the Grand Ole Opry made its first radio broadcast in Nashville. Charles Lindbergh thrilled the world when he flew The Spirit of St. Louis nonstop across the Atlantic ocean.
Gene had a busy life on the farm. His chores included feeding the chickens, milking the cows, and picking cotton. Although there was always work to be done, Gene had time to play marbles and tops. He also loved softball.
Like most farms at that time, they had no running water or electricity. Because of poor water quality for humans, they had to import their drinking water. For the animals, they had a windmill and a tank to collect the water. They bathed several times a week by heating water and filling a steel tub. Sometimes they would bathe in the cattle tank. At night they used lanterns or gas lamps.
When Gene was young, the heavy work on the farm was done by horses. Later, his family traded in their horses for a tractor that Gene proudly drove. Today, we trade in our old cars to buy new ones. Then you could trade in your horse. It was actually a sad time because they were fond of their horses. Gene’s grandfather once said to his horse,”You have been a good old horse” as he said goodbye.
Gene’s first memory of church was in a small Baptist church called Mount Tepee. Because there was no electricity they used paper fans donated by the local funeral home to keep cool. He always enjoyed singing and at the age of twelve was the song leader at the worship service. He loved his Sunday School teacher, Miss Maynard, who brought fresh peaches for snacks.
Koon Kazachy was his first school located in Kiowa County. There were two rooms and each room held four grades. Miss Whitlow taught grades 1-4 and was his teacher. His favorite subjects were always math and music. Every day he walked to school and took his lunch in a bucket or pail. His mother made his favorite sandwiches, pies, and cookies for his lunch.
Gene later attended school at Pleasant Grove where the school was across the street from his house. Because he lived so close to school, the school district hired him for four dollars a month to light the fires to heat the school very early in the morning. As a junior in high school, Gene was hired to drive the school bus. Every morning he drove from his house to pick up the students. After school, he drove everyone home and parked the bus at his house. He made $25 a month for that job.
Because Gene loved to sing, he started singing at church and school when he was young. In addition to being the song leader when he was twelve, he was in a quartet with his brother, his uncle, and a friend. His cousin played the piano. Gene’s voice had not changed, so he sang alto. About this time, the Chamber of Commerce sponsored a Gospel Singing Contest. His future wife, Bettye, first noticed him at a meeting for the contest. She told her friends "I'm going to marry that boy.” And she did marry him a few years later!
He sang in little country churches as a guest artist, and he even led the music for revivals in various towns. Later he sang for beauty pageants in Lamesa, Texas. At one pageant, his young daughter, Anne, was thrilled to hear him sing “The Way You Look Tonight.” She thought her father was so handsome!
After attending one year of college at Southwestern Tech in Weatherford, Oklahoma, Gene began to work as an apprentice telegrapher for the Santa Fe Railroad. He learned Morse Code to operate the telegraph. With all the practice, he was quite fast. Orders received by telegraph controlled the trains. The orders would be put up for a person on the train to grab as the train moved. A few years later, Western Union hired Gene to telegraph baseball games. The West Texas Baseball League was very popular, and Gene was hired to give a play-by-play on the telegraph. The town at the end of the message would recreate and broadcast the game with sound effects over the radio.
During the oil boom, Gene and his family moved to Lamesa, Texas. Gene and his wife both worked for the radio station. He worked as a commercial salesman and an announcer. At Christmas, he was the voice of Santa Claus! He did such a good job that his children never recognized his Santa voice. His wife had a radio show called Sincerely Yours, Bettye Campbell. It was broadcast three days a week. She had news and things of interest for women. Bettye also wrote articles for the Big Spring Herald that were sometimes printed in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
In 1957, Gene became an insurance salesman. His work took the family as far away as Albuquerque and Houston, where he retired as President of Great Southern Insurance Company. It was when the family moved to Houston that Gene became a Methodist. They started attending a large Baptist church, but a neighbor kept inviting them to attend First Methodist Church. It was there that they first met Dr. Charles Allen, a very prominent minister. Gene was a charter member of the satellite branch of First Methodist, now named First Methodist Westchase.
Gene and his wife, Bettye, were married in 1948. She was 17 and he was 21. Bettye had graduated from high school at the top of her class. They celebrated their 61st anniversary before she died four years ago. When Bettye became ill, they moved from Houston to Fort Worth to be closer to family. They thought they would have a quiet, sedate life. Instead they became very involved in our church. Bettye loved to sew and was a wonderful seamstress. She was a member of a sewing circle that made clothes for newborn babies. In addition, she made special dresses for the little babies that died at the hospital.
Today Gene still has a busy life. He recently participated in mentoring a student at J.T. Stevens Elementary School as part of Arborlawn’s Kids Hope program. He enjoys new opportunities as they arise. Gene is very proud that four generations of the Campbell family attend our church - Gene, daughter Anne, grandson Grant and his children. His youngest great-grandson will be baptized soon. Our church is blessed to have such a wonderful family!
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