Dr. Oliver A. Campbell

1927 - 2021

Dr. Oliver A. Campbell
1927 - 2021
Dr. Oliver A. Campbell passed away peacefully with family by his side on August 13, 2021, after a short illness and 94 very good years. Prior to moving to Petaluma, CA in 2010, he lived and made his career in Jersey City, NJ, New York, NY and the central New Jersey area.
He was born Oliver Aloysius Campbell, Jr. in Jersey City on June 21, 1927, to Catherine "Kay" Deevy Campbell and Oliver A. Campbell, Sr. Tragically, Oliver lost his father at the age of two, and Kay raised him on her own. For most of his boyhood, he and his mother lived with her parents (and some of her siblings) in the Deevy family row house on Mercer Street in Jersey City. Oliver had fond memories (and many stories) of growing up Catholic and among the Irish working class.
Oliver attended high school at Mount Saint Michael in the Bronx, then Fordham University in Manhattan for his bachelor's degree, and finally Georgetown University in Washington DC for his degree in dentistry. In between Mount Saint Michael and Fordham, he served in the Merchant Marine, traveling to Finland, Germany and Argentina on a cargo vessel that carried supplies to post-World War II Europe. In between Fordham and Georgetown, during the Korean War, he served in the Army primarily at Letterman Hospital at the Presidio in San Francisco.
As a newly-minted dentist in 1956, Dr. Campbell practiced briefly in New York City (including in the Steinway Hall building on West 57th Street) before setting up his own practice in central New Jersey. He chose to specialize in pediatric dentistry and particularly in children with special needs. Via a mutual friend - Dr. Marvin Pinn - he met Monika Conrad, a young woman from Germany living in Queens. In 1965 they were married via a civil ceremony in NYC and a family wedding in her hometown of Annweiler, Germany. As newlyweds, they purchased a house on Park Avenue in Plainfield, NJ, that held his dental practice downstairs and the family residence upstairs. Son Christopher and daughter Jennifer were born in due time, and in 1972 the family moved to a beautiful, cozy home on a wooded lot in Martinsville (Bridgewater township). Not long after, daughter Julienne was born.
Oliver joined the local volunteer rescue squad and served the Martinsville community for years, responding to emergency calls on evenings and weekends. He was an avid runner - often on his beloved Jersey Shore - well into his 70s and completed numerous marathons across the United States. He and Monika eventually divorced but continued to provide love and support to each other until her untimely death in 2006. Oliver settled in High Bridge, NJ and made new friends there, including at Gronsky's diner.
Oliver proudly provided pro bono dental services to pediatric patients at Children's Specialized Hospital in Westfield, NJ, and at the Matheny School in Peapack, NJ, a residential center for children with special needs. He had papers published in dental journals on various topics on pediatric dentistry. In the 1980s, Oliver expanded his Plainfield practice to include an office in Warren.
In 2006 at nearly 80, after 50 years in practice and familiar to many central New Jersey families as Dr. Campbell, Oliver retired. Shortly thereafter he accepted his daughter Jennifer's invitation to move to Petaluma, California, where he made a new home and was a happy California transplant. In 2019, with his son's help, he published his memoirs, compiling countless stories of his youth, military service, college and dental careers and family life. That same year he settled into a senior living community at what the family happily dubbed "Springfield Palace", and he quickly assembled a new collection of friends and admirers there.
Oliver was a kindhearted, optimistic person who loved to tell stories, spend time working outside, read The New York Times to keep up on current events, and connect with friends old and new. He found profound wisdom and life lessons in the comings-and-goings of daily life, and one of his greatest pleasures was sharing stories with people he met and hearing theirs. He cherished his family and friends, as well as his Irish heritage.
Dr. Oliver A. Campbell is survived by children Christopher Campbell of Atlanta, Jennifer Newman of Petaluma, CA and Julienne Smith of Atlanta, their partners Sharon Leslie, Chris Newman and Cody Smith, three grandchildren Bridget, Madeleine and Thomas, and his cousin Maureen Beards. He is also survived by a large, loving extended family throughout Germany, which spans several generations.
A memorial event is being planned for 2022. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to Mount Saint Michael Academy in New York City, https://www.mtstmichael.org/ or to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.