Betty J. Campbell

Betty Jeanne Brooks Campbell, 90, died Monday, May 9, 2016 in Timbercrest Senior Living Community, North Manchester, IN. She was born in Bulsar, Bombay Province, India, the daughter of Harlan and Ruth Brooks who were Church of the Brethren missionaries. Her grandparents, D.L. and Anna Forney, were also missionaries there at the time. She grew up with Indian playmates and spoke Gujarati fluently. At age ten she began attending Woodstock School, a boarding school for missionary children in the foothills of the Himalayas. She graduated from high school in 1942 and took her first year of college in India because of World War II when travel by boat to America was unsafe. The family then took a naval transport to San Diego and lived in California for one year where Betty attended LaVerne College. The next year Betty entered Manchester College, her parents' Alma Mater, where she met Glen. That year she was chosen May Queen. After graduation she taught grade school in Sturgis, MI, while Glen finished his schooling. They were married June 8th, 1948 at the Walnut Street Church of the Brethren. His father performed the ceremony; her parents were in India. In preparation for mission work, Glen received a Master's in Agriculture at Cornell University and Betty taught school for two years. Glen continued his studies at Bethany Biblical Seminary, during which time two of their three children were born: Phil and Margaret Ann. In 1952 they sailed on a freighter to Bombay, India, where her parents were waiting to greet them. After a year of language school they served in several mission points. During this time their third child, John, was born. After 18 years on the mission field they returned to settle down in Indiana. Glen and Betty served the Liberty Mills Church from 1970-1976 and the Guernsey/Pike Creek congregations from 1976-1991, all in the South/Central Indiana District of the Church of the Brethren. Betty loved to read. She played the piano for church hymns, was active in women's work, helped with her grandchildren's home schooling, worked with Glen in the gardens and did canning and freezing. Betty lived at Timbercrest for ten and half years. She was preceded in death by her daughter, Margaret Ann (1999) and her husband Glen (2010), and son Phil (2016). She is survived by her sister, Margaret Huston, her son John, seven grandchildren and seventeen great-grandchildren. Family and friends may call Friday, May 13, 2016 from 12:00-2:00 p.m. at Timbercrest Chapel, 2201 East Street, North Manchester. Services, Friday, May 13, 2016 at 2:00 p.m. at Timbercrest Chapel, 2201 East Street, North Manchester. Pastor Kurt Borgmann and Chaplain Don Fecher will officiate. Burial will be in Pleasant Hill Cemetery, North Manchester, IN. Memorial contributions may be made to Timbercrest Senior Living Community, PO Box 501, North Manchester, IN 46962 or to Manchester Church of the Brethren, 1306 N. Beckley Street, North Manchester, IN 46962. To send a private condolence to the Campbell family, use the condolence link on the McKee Mortuary homepage.