Walter Elijah lll

Walter Elijah Campbell III

July 10, 1952 – Feb 18, 2026

Durham, North Carolina

Walter Elijah Campbell III passed away on Feb 18, 2026. He was at home, surrounded by his wife, son, and longtime friends, Richard and Amanda Lucas.

A native of Savannah, Georgia, Walt was born July 10, 1952 to Walter and Audrey Campbell who preceded him in death. Walt graduated from HV Jenkins High School in 1970 as one of eight outstanding Seniors. Personal accolades included the family tradition in sports participation, while lettering in baseball, football, and basketball.

After completing his undergraduate degree from Armstrong Atlantic State University, he moved to North Carolina to obtain his master's degree at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and Ph.D at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

As a staunch independent scholar, Walt dedicated his career to various writing and video projects that might have seemed peculiar to some, but he had an amazing ability to make these topics appealing and interesting to almost everyone. His books included Across Fortune's Tracks: A Biography of William Rand Kenan Jr., and later, Foundations for Excellence: 75 Years of Duke Medicine. Film and video projects included The Roanoke Voyages and the Lost Colony, an instructional video for middle schools, and Bull City Blues, a series of television programs dealing with the history of blues music in Durham, North Carolina.

A major accomplishment of Walt's career was completion of the documentary movie The Editor and Dragon: Horace Carter Fights the Klan, for which he and his fellow co-workers Martin Clark and Tom Vickers received an Emmy in 2012.

Walt is survived by his wife, Mary Lee, and son Elijah. Walt took great joy in coaching Elijah's early athletic teams with Whippoorwill Youth Athletic Associations and later with North Durham Little League.

Walt's brothers, Hadley (Beverly) Campbell and Jim (Pam) Campbell live in Statesboro, Georgia. His sister Susannah (Nate) Funk lives in Clover, South Carolina. All three showed constant support and love throughout Walt's illness.

He also enjoyed interacting with his 8 nieces and nephews and 8 grand nieces and nephews who will miss their Uncle Walt.

A special thanks to Walt's brother-in-law, Thurman Melton who helped with the physically demanding work of caring for Walt in his final days.

We will celebrate Walt's life with visitation on March 1st from 4-6 pm, and funeral service on March 2nd at 2 pm, both at Clements Funeral and Cremation Services at 1105 Broad Street in Durham, NC. A light brunch will follow the funeral service.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to either The American Bamboo Society at bamboo.org, or the Southern Oral History Program at give.unc.edu use text search to enter "Southern Oral History".

The family is being assisted by Clements Funeral & Cremation Services, Inc. in Durham. Online condolences may be sent to www.clementsfuneralservice.com.