Campbell, William Lyall (Bill)

Passed peacefully, surrounded by his family on December 26, 2014 at the Stedman Community Hospice Hankinson House in his 82nd year.

Best friend and beloved husband of 59 years of Dorothy, loving father of Barbara (Richard) and Dave (Tim), cherished son of the late William and Leda Campbell. Survived by dear cousins Earl Canham, Cecil (Kay) Adams, Clarence (Barbara) Adams, John (Jennifer) Adams, Robert (Margaret) Campbell, Nelson (Pat) Campbell, Mavis (George) Gough, Muriel (Brian) Laughton and Heather (Murray) Arthur.

Bill studied soils and crops at the Ontario Agricultural College where he graduated in 1955 and completed his Masters degree in 1957. In 1958, he and a silent partner established Fairlawn Sod Nursery Limited and planted their first farm on Powerline Road near Lynden. Bill and Dorothy moved to Brantford in 1960. Bill earned his M.B.A. at McMaster a few years later.

During Bill's 42 years of involvement in turf production, he established other Canadian farms in Breslau, Tilbury, Ottawa, Montreal and Québec City. With the addition of U.S. farms in Canfield, Ohio and Kissimmee, Florida, Fairlawn Sod became, for a time, the largest sod farming operation in North America. He was very proud of the staff who stayed with the businesses for many years.

Bill was a charter member of the Nursery Sod Growers Association of Ontario and served as president. He was honoured to be one of the first Canadian presidents of the American Sod Producers Association (now Turfgrass Producers International). In retirement, he served on the advisory board of the Guelph Turfgrass Institute.

Bill loved many things in life: family, laughter, business, reading, dancing, music, theatre, dogs, photography, travel, sunsets and beach walks in Sarasota. He cherished his volunteer involvement in a number of organizations including Rotary, Enterprise Brant, Brant Community Foundation, Samuel W. Stedman Foundation, Sanderson Centre, St. Andrew’s United Church, Trillium Foundation and the Brantford General Hospital. He loved spending time with friends at the golf course, the curling rink, Probus, Rotary, Tuesday lunch group, his Friday coffee hours and especially his Thursday Think Tank group.

In his mid-seventies, Bill started a Bucket List. He rode a mule to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and stayed overnight at Phantom Ranch with Barbara and Richard, who hiked down. He attended the Masters Golf Tournament and rode in a glider. At 77, he entered the Rotary Classic 5K – his first running race since high school. He ran it twice more, each year raising thousands of dollars for Rotary. He was disappointed that he was unable to participate when he was 80, as he had hoped to win his age group.

Bill believed strongly in helping others and giving back to his community, particularly through the Brant Community Foundation where he and Dorothy established the first Donor Advised Fund, which supports the work of Kids Can Fly including the Launch Pad at Graham Bell-Victoria School. Bill was grateful for his education at the University of Guelph where he established an annual scholarship and provided longtime financial support. He served as President of Rotary, Chair of the Board for the Brantford General Hospital, Chair of Enterprise Brant and President of Probus.

Along with Dorothy, Bill was tremendously honoured to receive the David A. Neill Philanthropy Award in 2010 and the Business Excellence Award for Outstanding Achievement from the Brantford-Brant Chamber of Commerce in 2011. Bill was proud to receive Rotary Paul Harris Fellow Awards in 1985 and 2007.

Visitation will be on Fri. Jan. 2 from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. at the Dennis Toll Funeral Home, 55 Charing Cross St., Brantford. Service will be on Sat. Jan. 3 at 2 p.m. at St. Andrew’s United Church, 95 Darling St.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Bill’s memory may be made to the Brant Community Foundation, the Kids Can Fly Imagination Library program or to any charity that touches your heart. Above all, he would have encouraged friends to reach out in acts of kindness to help others.