William Campbell Jr.

William Campbell Jr , 93, passed away on January 24th 2024 at his home in Long Beach, CA surrounded by his family.

Son of Henrietta Campbell (Loya), and William John Campbell, he was born August 20, 1930 in San Pedro , CA. He attended Banning High School in Wilmington, CA and entered the Navy shortly after in 1947, serving proudly in Korea and Vietnam, though stationed most of his career in Japan where he met his wife Tsuruyo. They were wed in 1965, and had two sons Alex in 1969 and Steve in 1970.  After his retirement from the Navy in 1970 as a Chief Petty Officer, he went on to work as a senior cook for Los Angeles County and Orange County correctional facilities where he retired in 1995. During his "retirement" years he liked to go fishing, watch boxing and sumo wrestling with his family, watch youtube videos with his family, and in recent years participating and writing stories of his life on a Facebook message group which he created called "Campbell and Friends". Above all he loved to cook and provided many tasty meals for his family, and I do not doubt that he is cooking up a storm in paradise. He was preceded to heaven by his father, mother, aunts, uncles, and many cousins. He is survived by his wife Tsuruyo, sons Alex and Steve,  daughter in laws Shannon and Maly, grandchildren Lxa, Joseph, Xarian, and Xenan, great grandchildren Leta, Jett, Wednesday, and Melody Kay, cousins Ruthie, Edward, Daniel, Maria, Netty, Angie, Erik, Andrew, Mark, Adam, Little Eddie, and Kainoa.

William was a deeply beloved husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, cousin, and friend. His passing although sad was a blessed experience, as he did it his way, at home surrounded by family the last three days of his life.

While we lost our most beloved dad, many have lost a friend and loved one in him. He has been a rock to many, a master at cooking and telling stories, and even a bit impatient at times (however no matter what happened between you in your lives, once you were marked as important to him, he'd be by your side if you needed him). There was so much more to him than just dad, though to us that was his greatest role - he was a chaplain for some years, he was a story teller, a joke teller, a great cook, he was an encyclopedia of history, the list goes on and on.

We invite you all to share your fondest memories of him or pictures.

Graveside funeral services will be held at Forest Lawn in Long Beach on February 24, 2024 at 12:30pm