L'Roy Campbell

L'Roy Campbell, a longtime resident of the Broxton community near Apache, Oklahoma, passed away on Wednesday, January 3, 2018, at the age of 82. He was born on January 6, 1935, to Roy and Fay (Lindley) Campbell in Durant, Oklahoma.
He grew up in Durant and graduated from Durant High School in 1953, then attended college at Southeastern State University in Durant, where he met his future wife, Betty Ahboah. He enjoyed his college years and served as president of his fraternity, Phi Sigma Epsilon, and was named along with Betty as king and queen of the college's Beaux Arts Ball in their senior year. L'Roy graduated with a bachelor's degree in business in 1957 and then proudly served his country for four years as a member of the United States Air Force (spending a year in South Korea). In 1959, he and Betty were married at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama, where their daughter, Laura, was born and they lived there until he was honorably discharged in 1961.
After his military service, L'Roy entered the business management program with the J.C. Penney Company in Dallas, Texas, and resided in the DFW area until 1967 with his family. Eager to return to Oklahoma roots, the family moved to the rural Broxton/Apache area and L'Roy pursued an education degree, which he earned from USAO in Chickasha. He completed post-graduate work at both Southwestern State University in Weatherford (earning his master's degree) and the University of Oklahoma in Norman (earning administrative credentials). He spent 10 years in the Apache school system, where he taught history and served as assistant principal prior to his many years as high school principal. In 1979, he was named superintendent of Broxton Public Schools and worked there until retirement in 1989. As a longtime educator, he was proud of the accomplishments of his students and continued to maintain friendships with many of his former students.
As much as he enjoyed his career in education and being around kids of all ages, he really loved his retirement years in the country with Betty and frequent road trips to Texas to visit their daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren. They attended numerous school functions, athletic events, and graduation ceremonies in support of their three grandsons. As a husband, father, and grandfather, God was in his life on a daily basis and he was grateful for his family.
L'Roy also spent hours reading and studying history, his favorite subject, and could recite facts and figures from numerous historical periods. He donated historical items to several area museums and was often called upon by museum curators to provide information on various collections to be exhibited. Although his favorite sport was baseball, he was a true-blue fan of OU Sooner football and, in more recent years, Oklahoma City Thunder basketball.
L'Roy is survived by Betty, his wife of 58 years; daughter and son-in-law, Laura and Lorenzo Salazar, of North Richland Hills, Texas; grandsons, Lorenzo IV (Lou), David, and Robert Salazar, all of North Richland Hills; sisters, Ruth Thompson of Durant, Oklahoma, and Joan Griffith of Wichita Falls, Texas; cousins, Rogers Lindley of Long Beach, California, and Eugene Ramazetti of Spring, Texas; sisters-in-law Linda Ahboah of Oklahoma City and Mary French Smith of Anadarko, Oklahoma; and many nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews, and extended family members.
He was preceded in death by his parents and his sisters, Phyllis Jones and Gloria Parish.
Visitation with the family will be from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Sunday, January 7, 2018