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Mary Lou Campbell

1940-2015

Mary Lou Campbell

Mary Lou Campbell of North Head, Grand Manan Island passed away peacefully at the Grand Manan Hospital, 15 October 2015, surrounded by her friends.  Born in Margaree Forks, Cape Breton, on July 27, 1940, she was predeceased by her parents Vida Elizabeth (Martin) and Donald Richard Campbell.  She moved to Saint John when she was 12 and after graduating high school, attended teachers college in Fredericton, teaching for a year in Garnet Settlement.  Moving back to Saint John, her friend, Juanita Chetley, decided in 1961 that they should move to Toronto where after six years of other work, she became a successful stock broker, because she wanted to have a secretary rather than be one.  To escape her high pressure career she would vacation in New Brunswick, visiting her friend who had returned to Saint John.  An advertisement in a Toronto newspaper brought her to Grand Manan Island to look for the rare North Atlantic right whale, beginning a love affair with the island and whales.  She visited frequently, developing many island friendships, and had a group of friends who would meet to share a week of whale watching. Her love of whales also took her several times to the lagoons in Baja to visit the "friendly" grey whales.  She was also the founding donor of the Grand Manan Whale & Seabird Research Station begun by her close friend Dr. David Gaskin.  Late in her career, she became the officer manager in her firm, and when she retired, she moved to the island with her beloved dogs to live in her Right Whale Cottage overlooking the Bay of Fundy.  Mary Lou will be remembered for her devotion and generosity to her friends, god-son Mark Stoetzel and his family and all of her pets, her love of animals, her wonderful sense of humour, and her philanthropy.  Not one to celebrate herself, Mary Lou requested no visitation nor memorial service but she can be remembered through memorial donations to her favourite charities, the Grand Manan Whale & Seabird Research Station, Swallowtail Keepers Society, and the Grand Manan Museum.  Arrangements are entrusted to Ells Funeral Home Inc. 1199 Route 776, Grand Manan, NB E5G 1G2. Condolences, messages of sympathy also may be sent to www.ells.ca or (506)662-3116.  

Service Date
Thursday, October 15, 2015

Requested Charity
Grand Manan Whale & Seabird Research Station, Swallowtail Keepers Society, & the Grand Manan Museum