Paula Birchfield Campbell

1947 - 2024

ANDERSONVILLE, Tenn. — Paula Birchfield Campbell, 77, of Andersonville, Tenn., passed away on Aug. 27 after a two-month-long battle with cancer.

Paula was born on May 12, 1947, to Thomas Kelly Birchfield and Fran Gaye Northcutt in Dayton, Ohio.

After Paula graduated from Colonel White High School in 1965, she studied English and English Literature at Morehead State University in Morehead.

After graduating with a degree in English from Morehead in 1969, she started her first teaching job at Mason County Middle School in Maysville, kick starting a very successful 33-year career in teaching English.

She went on to teach High School English first at Bull's Gap High School, Bull's Gap, Tenn., then at Norris High School, Norris, Tenn. and finally at Anderson County High School where she taught Senior English, including the Advanced Placement classes.

She was known by her former students as an excellent, caring, and witty teacher who prepared them extremely well for the college topics they would face.

A lifelong learner, she attained her Master of Arts in Education degree at Morehead State in 1974.

In the spring of 1969, Paula met her future spouse, David Franklin Campbell III at the Morehead State University Library.

They were married nearly 55 years ago, on Dec. 20, 1969, at the Far Hills Baptist Church in Dayton, Ohio.

Paula and David had two children, David F. Campbell IV, 51, and James Andrew Campbell, 42, and one granddaughter, Payton Cassandra Campbell, 23.

In 2007, Paula retired from Education and spent her time reading, as she was an avid reader, gardening in her herb garden, and traveling with David and the family.

She was also an active leader in her beloved education sorority, Delta Kappa Gamma, and was very active in her church, in which she was a lay speaker and could deliver exceptional and entertaining sermons in the absence of the minister.

She was a serious Anglophile and loved everything England and had always wanted to visit. In 1987 she arranged to escort her English students on a trip to England, and that opened the gates.

Since that first trip, she arranged a number of other class trips, and then she and David began arranging their own personal trips to the United Kingdom.

The couple has also enjoyed a number of European River cruises. On one of their English trips, they were fortunate to have attended the book release of noted writer Ken Follett's new novel, "World Without End," and were able to chat with him and attain a personally-signed novel.

In the year prior to her passing, Paula and David enjoyed a multi-night AMTRAK journey from Chicago to San Francisco and an ocean cruise from Barcelona up the west coast of Europe to Bergen, Norway.

She also loved birthday trips to Blowing Rock, N.C. and anniversary stays at the Oliver Hotel in Knoxville.

Paula was predeceased by her father, Thomas K. Birchfield and by her younger brother, Tom Birchfield. She is survived by her husband, David III, sons David Franklin Campbell IV (Leesa Dicks) and James Andrew Campbell (Jamie Webber), granddaughter Payton Cassandra Campbell, mother Fran G. Northcutt Birchfield, brother Dan Birchfield (Andrea Winkler), brother-in-law Bob Campbell (Barbie Waggoner) and special friend Kathy Hurst (Steve Hurst).

Services will be held at Norris United Methodist Church on Saturday, Sept. 7, with visitation in the church from 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m., and the Funeral Service at Noon.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to The American Cancer Society or the Norris Area Food Pantry, the latter an organization Paula felt strongly about. www.holleygamble.com