Richard Lee Campion
Resident of Grass Valley

Former principal of Nevada Union High school, innovative builder, founder of Club Sierra and owner of Wildwood Fitness, died peacefully at his LWW home July 6, 2010. He was 89. A funeral mass will be held for him this Saturday, July 10 at 10:00am at St. Patrick's Church in Grass Valley. An informal reception will immediately follow in the Parish Hall.

Born June 6, 1921, in Oakland, California, he was possessed of an entrepreneurial spirit and always strove to achieve. He was an avid athlete, Eagle Scout and Student Body President of Oakland High School. He spent high school summers in Nevada County picking fruit in Peardale and training for track and field by running on Highway 49 early in the morning, when there was no traffic! After high school, he worked a number of jobs to support himself at San Jose State University and continued competing as an outstanding track and field athlete.

His Olympic aspirations were cut short by the advent of World War II. He trained as a pilot and served stateside and in the South Pacific in the USMC. Returning from the war, the GI Bill enabled him to complete his B.A. at SJSU, where he met his future wife, Muriel Anne McGlynn, to whom he was married for 32 years. He went on to earn his M.A. in education at Stanford University and he worked for Kaiser Corp. in the post-war building boom in the Santa Clara Valley.

He launched into his educational career as a teacher in Sunnyvale and then became the youngest Superintendent in the state in Alpaugh, California. Other administrative positions and principalships followed in Marin County, Southern California, Santa Cruz and Nevada County. While in southern California he founded a private junior college.

Retirement from the principalship of Nevada Union High School did not mean retirement from new projects, as he embarked on two decades of home building in Lake of the Pines, Alta Sierra and Lake Wildwood. Always a health advocate, Richard conceptualized and built the Club Sierra building and business on West Berryhill in Grass Valley. He was still participating in aerobics classes at 82. He opened Wildwood Fitness in 2003 and enjoyed greeting the early birds arriving at 5:00am. Every Sunday morning Richard, a devoted Catholic, served as usher at the 7:00am mass at St. Patrick's.

Richard is survived by Muriel Anne McGlynn of Ventura, his son Kevin of Grass Valley, his daughter Maureen of Oceanside, his daughter Della of Seattle and his grandchildren Rosalia and Alex.