Gilbert "Ace" Reginal Campbell Jr.

Gilbert “Ace” Reginal Campbell, Jr., 84, passed away peacefully on the 24th of February, 2017 in Nashville. He was born on October 13, 1932, in Knoxville, the son of Elizabeth Hascall Campbell and Gilbert Reginal Campbell. He is survived by his wife Mattoinette “Matte” McCeney Campbell; his daughter, Ashley Patterson (Jeff) Silverman of Atlanta; his son, George Benjamin (Hollie) Campbell of Scottsdale, Arizona; and four grandchildren: Robert Campbell Patterson and Elizabeth Sims Patterson of Atlanta; and Parker William Campbell and Collin Ace Campbell of Scottsdale, Ariz. He is also survived by his sister-in-law, Emily McCeney (Marvin) Boots and nephew, Julien Morriss, both of Richmond, Virginia. He attended The McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and graduated from Knoxville High School in 1950. He graduated from his beloved University of Tennessee with a B.S. and Juris Doctorate in 1957. Before law school, he was stationed in Greenland and at the Port of Embarkation in New Orleans, with the U.S. Army, where he rose to the rank of captain. He was a loyal member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and served as province archon. He worked in the advertising business in Knoxville, married Matte in 1962, and moved to Atlanta, where he began a 20-year career as executive director of the Decatur/DeKalb Chamber of Commerce. In this role, he led the Chamber through many exciting years of Atlanta's growth. He wrote a weekly column for the Decatur-DeKalb News and was elected president of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce Executives Association. During his tenure in Atlanta, he served as president of the Decatur Rotary Club and chairman of the board of deacons of Decatur Presbyterian Church. He was also a member of the board of visitors for Oglethorpe College and the board of directors of the Cotton States Life Insurance Company. In 1983, the family relocated to Nashville, where he served as executive director of the Tennessee Bar Association, which grew in membership, programs and influence during his 17-year tenure. He served as president of the National Association of Bar Executives in 1999-2000 and executive director of the Tennessee Supreme Court Historical Society until 2009. Post retirement, he enthusiastically embraced the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Vanderbilt University, where he taught several classes. He was elected its president in 2010. He enjoyed taking OLLI writing courses, and he began to write poetry after a lifetime of writing verse and skits for all occasions. He was a fellow of the Nashville Bar Foundation and the Tennessee Bar Foundation. He was a member of First Presbyterian Church of Nashville, the Tennessee Society of Association Executives, the Nashville Shakespeare Club, the Nashville Rotary Club, and the University Club of Nashville. He was a member of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants. Teaching was one of his passions, and for more than 30 years he taught Chamber Management, Legal Issues and Ethics for Non-Profit Organizations for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institutes for Organization Management in locations across the country. His lifelong interest in old radio led to his participation in a weekly radio show, The Quiz Kids, in the 1970s and 1980s in Atlanta on WSB Radio. His knowledge of trivia was truly amazing, and he won several rounds of The $128,000 Question television show in the mid-1970s. A charming man and an accomplished public speaker, he was always called upon to provide entertainment for reunions of his Knoxville High School class and his large group of friends—from kindergarten and on—who celebrated their 60th, 70th and 75th birthdays together in high style. A 50-year member of the Men's Cotillion Club in Knoxville, he and Matte missed very few annual dances. As a devoted football fan and season ticket holder, he attended almost every game the University of Tennessee played in Neyland Stadium—from his college days until 2014. His love for the “Vols” knew no bounds. Though he left Knoxville in 1963, Gil never left his group of lifelong friends who stayed here. He was a kind and compassionate man with a finely-tuned sense of humor. His children and grandchildren will forever remember him as a loving, supportive, creative, well-dressed, and attentive father and grandfather who encouraged them to pursue their passions and to be contributors and good friends. Friends and family were his greatest treasure. He will be greatly missed. A celebration of his life will be held at First Presbyterian Church of Knoxville (620 State Street, Knoxville, TN 37902) at 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 4th. The family will receive friends immediately following the service. Please consider a memorial gift to a fund in his name to be made to the University of Tennessee College of Law at 1505 W. Cumberland Avenue, S248, Knoxville, TN 37996, Attn: Gilbert Campbell Memorial. Online condolences may be extended at www.rosemortuary.com Arrangements by Rose Mortuary Mann Heritage Chapel.

Tributes

Gilbert "Ace" Reginal Campbell Jr.

October 13, 1932 - February 24, 2017