Dr. Donald Noble Campbell

Donald Noble Campbell died Wednesday, July 29 in West Columbia, TX. He was born October 2, 1924 in Wheeling, WV the son of Clyde Stewart Campbell and Bertha Mae Noble Campbell. He attended and graduated from Warwood High School where he played on a very successful basketball team and was team captain his senior year. He earned a B.S. Degree in Chemistry from Washington and Jefferson College and a PhD degree in Physical Chemistry from West Virginia University. He also studied Meteorology at the University of Virginia. He served in the U.S. Air Force during WWII. The family would like to express a special thank you to Dr. Jim & Debby Burns as well as True Williams for their compassionate and devoted care of Dr. Campbell. In 1959 he and two other scientists started a new company in Ronceverte, West Virginia named Greenbrier Instruments. Don was a pioneer in the field of gas chromatography and the new company successfully produced gas chromatographs and other gas analysis instruments. Greenbrier Instruments was later purchased by Bendix Corporation and Don became plant manager for a number of years before being transferred to a Bendix plant near Baltimore, Maryland. Don was recognized and won numerous awards for his contributions in the scientific field of chemistry. He chaired the Greenbrier Valley Airport Authority at one time and was instrumental in the construction of the airport near Lewisburg and the beginning of commercial air service in the Greenbrier Valley. After retiring from the Bendix Corporation Don began consulting with Fluid Data Corporation in Angleton, TX and eventually became manager of that faculty. He was a member of the American Chemical Society, Instrument Society of America, Phi Lambda Upsilon and Sigma Xi. He held a number of patents and published numerous technical papers. Don was preceded in death by his parents, a son David Leslie Campbell and his loving wife Caroline Sellards Campbell. He is survived by his daughter Donna Campbell (David Yost) Nickell of Lewisburg, WV, sons Dr. James Stewart (Alana) Campbell of New Martinsville, WV and Col. Don Aiken (Emma) Campbell of Washington, Il, daughter Caroline Rebecca (Rick) Fisher of North East, MD and sons William David Campbell of Darlington, MD and William Andrew (Dawn) Campbell of Bel Air, MD. Additionally he is survived by twelve grandchildren and four great grandchildren. Don was a loving husband and father who will be remembered for his kindness, fairness and strong values he taught and lived. Services will be held at Dulaney Memorial Gardens in Timonium, MD where he will be laid to rest. Arrangements are incomplete at this time. Don's family requests that donations be made in his memory to Central Emergency Services Inc., 400 North 13th Street, West Columbia, TX 77486. Provide comfort for the family by planting a tree in memory of Dr. Donald Noble Campbell, please visit our Heartfelt Sympathies Store.