Geneva Marie Campbell

On March 26, 2026 Geneva (Jeannie) Marie Campbell passed peacefully into eternal sleep. On March 21 she entered the hospital due to extreme fatigue and concerns about low hemoglobin. Tests showed that her liver function had decreased. Over the next few days she received visits from her children, Anita, Alesia, and Tim Campbell, son-in-law Patrick Young, daughter-in-law Vicki Campbell, grandsons Kyle and Zach Hollinger and Colin Campbell. She had indicated she did not want to die alone, and that wish was granted as daughter Anita sat with her as she passed.

Geneva (Jeannie) Campbell was born on July 2, 1941 at Saint Anne’s Hospital in Dayton Ohio to parents Noma and Harold Sterne. She died on March 26, 2026 at Kettering Memorial Hospital. She was preceded in death by her husband, Ova Campbell, parents, Harold and Noma Sterne, and granddaughter Cassandra Beall. She is survived by her daughters, Anita and Alesia (Patrick Young) Campbell, son, Tim (Vicki) Campbell, grandchildren, Kyle (Jessica) and Zachary Hollinger, Caleb, Colin and Carly Campbell, great grandchildren, Piper and Emerson Hollinger, sisters Pauline (Edgar) Petry and Delores (Robert) Baughman, and her brother Steven (Peg) Sterne.

Jeannie came home from Saint Anne’s to a modest home in Dayton. She often told a story about drinking turpentine as a toddler which caused her to turn blue. As she struggled to breathe her mother grabbed her and ran several blocks to the nearest hospital. As with many of her stories, this was about how people can do amazing things when galvanized by love and necessity.

Her family later moved to a property on Indian Ripple Road in Beavercreek Ohio. There was an orchard on the property, and Jeannie and her siblings spent autumn days each year picking and coring apples to make the cider they sold at the roadside. During other months the trees were used to tie one end of jump ropes so that Jeannie and Pauline (Polly) could take turns practicing their double Dutch, climbing, and shade to sit and read without being disturbed.

Jeannie attended Main Elementary School. She loved to read, but wasn’t particularly keen on mathematics, although she studied hard. She had a rather odd ability to do division, whilst simultaneously struggling at multiplication. She enjoyed travelling on the family’s annual vacations. In her memories she saved a note written to her mother as a child begging for shorts and a top for a trip to Michigan, a rare treat for girls of her era.

She graduated from Beavercreek High School in 1959. As a student she participated in choir, roller skating activities, and sock hops. She attended every formal dance for which she had the opportunity. She had begun saving for a horse in her preteen years and had $100 in her bank. While in high school she went with her mom to help select a new car. Noma always bought an Oldsmobile, but Jeannie had her eye on a Cadillac sitting on the lot. She offered to add her horse money if they could only take it home. When they got home her father stated that she was never to go car shopping with her mother again. This was the beginning of a lifelong love of automobiles. It took her almost 60 years, but she was able to purchase a Cadillac as her last car.

In 1959, she headed for Manchester College. In 1960, she met the love of her life, Ova Campbell. This is the memory of that meeting in her own words...

I had finished my freshman year at Manchester College and was looking for a summer job. I had visited many places, but had found no openings. I was driving home when I remembered there was a Parkmoor on Shroyer Rd. I was tired and went several blocks past Shroyer, but something told me to go back so I turned around. At Parkmoor not only did I get a job as a car hop, but met the love of my life. Ova Campbell was the breakfast cook. He had the most beautiful blue eyes. I always loved blue eyes. I came home and told my sister Polly I had just met the man I was going to marry. Of course he did not give me the time of day. A couple of weeks later, I got off at two and knew he was getting off at three. At Parkmoor the girls changing room was on the first floor and the men’s was upstairs. I waited patiently for Ova to descend. We had to park our cars across the street. So we walked across the street together and I said “how about taking me for a ride?” He said OK. We left and went past my house to the Little Miami River. At college I was allowed to stay out until 1:00. At home the curfew was 11:00. We sat on the bank until about 12:30 and then went back to get my dad’s station wagon. Meanwhile, my parents were frantic. They called Parkmoor, but I wasn’t there. I finally went home at 1:00 to parents that were not happy. The rest is history. I went back to college for six months and quit and married the love of my life.

Ova Campbell and Geneva Sterne were married on April 1, 1961, a marriage that would last sixty four years, four months, and 16 days. Over the years they would welcome three children, six grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Her heart was always centered around her love for Ova, and his passing created a great chasm within it.

She centered her life around family, making room for faith, friends, and a love of teaching. A love which caused her to push the children in her life to achieve everything she believed were capable of, even when they might have preferred to chill out and let it slide. In the early years of their marriage she stayed home and raised their three children. Summers were spent canning the vegetables from his garden, singing with family as they drove a 1961 convertible with a broken radio, and keeping an eye on the kids as they learned to swim in the backyard pool. Later she was able to finish her college education at Wright State, graduating cum laude with a Bachelors of Science in Elementary Education in 1977 and a Masters of Early Childhood Education in 1983. She loved shaping young minds, and one of her favorite teaching days was when a former student sent her a note with a dozen roses thanking her for telling his mom to have him repeat kindergarten. He was graduating with honors, and believed her early intervention was the reason. She was listed in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers in 1994.

She had a diverse bucket list, and may be the only person I know who completed almost everything on it:

Travel: Horseback riding in the Smokies on a family vacation…Scotland, Ireland, and England with Ova and friends…Cruises to the Caribbean and Alaska, as well as a trip to Hawaii to see Ova perform with his clogging group…Germany, Austria, and Italy as a chaperone with Kettering Children’s Choir, where she was able to see her granddaughter Cassi perform in multiple locations, and ride a Gondola in Venice.

Education/skills: After years of trying, she learned to water ski on the annual trip to Lake Cumberland…finishing advanced college degrees…driving the motor home.

Family: When multiple health issues began to crop up in her 50’s she diligently followed medical advice, determined to live long enough that her grandchildren would remember her…until deteriorating health issues kept her home in the past couple of years, she never missed on of her grandchildren’s sporting events or performances (even flying home in the middle of winter for a high school play).

Finance: Establishing credit in her own name (which she did in 1974), and being able to purchase things independently.

The only thing that was ever on her list that she didn’t do was driving a race car, unless you count the time she pushed her mom’s Olds to 120 miles per hour. She took it off her list when she decided it wasn’t worth the risk.

She remained active in her church until the very end. She sang in the choir and served on the church board in various capacities over the years. Her last words to the hospice intake worker was that she was a woman of faith, and that she would see her granddaughter and husband again.

Her legacy is the life of an ordinary woman driven to bring out the extraordinary in others and the memories of:

Her Children:

Tim: My fondest memories of my mom are playing two handed canasta where we never did resolve who was the better player. Getting a hug or a favorite homemade meal just when I needed them most. While my interest in the outdoors did not come from my mom, her love of teaching kindergarten did lead to my own teaching career. Teaching me how to cook some of my favorite foods, working on puzzles (the current puzzle with cats still lies unfinished – I will finish it someday), and giving me a camera to use when I was young (which is still a hobby of mine to this day).

(daughter-in-law) Vicki: I will always remember how Mimi kept our pantry stocked with homemade canned tomatoes, tomato juice and salsa made from tomatoes from Papa’s garden. We also picked strawberries every spring, and Mimi made strawberry jam that we used all year.

Alesia: As I think back on my memories with Mom, most of them are of me pushing the envelope and Mom pulling her hair out. (If you know me, you know this to be true.) In reality…it is really all her fault. My Mom was a strong, independent, type A personality, who was super organized, got things done and didn’t let things stand in her way. Who does that sound like? You put two of us together and you get sparks and often fire. But I knew she always had my back in the end… In April of 1992, she got a call at 2:00 in the morning with a daughter stating: “If you want to have a grandson in the morning you better get here fast”. I was going on 4 hours of Kyle screaming and Ken was at work. She simply said, it takes me 11 minutes to get to you…can you hold on for 11 minutes? I said yes…but at 12 minutes, I don’t know. She was on her way and in 11 minutes she was there taking over with Kyle and let me go upstairs. He of course fell asleep as soon as she took him…but I will never forget she wasn’t mad, didn’t say I was a bad mom, just gave me the 2 hours of sleep I really needed.

Anita: One of my earliest memories is of singing barbershop music in the Oldsmobile. Mom and Alesia sang the melody and I sang the T1 descant. I can clearly remember Tim sitting in his car seat, so I would have been about seven. In the summers we were only allowed to come inside and sit by the fan to help break beans, or occasionally to Gin Rummy or Canasta. When Darden left, and Cassi and I moved in I remember the summer she finally purchased the side by side refrigerator of her dreams. She and Cassi camped on lawn chair cushions in the box until a storm destroyed it. She held us all to high standards, but was always there to help when needed. If you wanted to convince her of something, you had to be able to back it up with logic and sources, I can remember many arguments that honed my reasoning skills as she insisted I come back with documented information.

Her Grandchildren:

Carly: I will always remember Mimi taking me to the rootbeer stand during the summer and I will have special memories of Mimi playing cards and board games with me and with all of the grandchildren.

Colin: For me I feel like Mimi was always there especially since she was only a street over from me. She was at every single game of mine whether softball, basketball, volleyball, soccer or whatever else. She would always wait by the exit to give me a hug after. I’m a hugger and I always thought she gave great hugs. So I think probably just her making sure she gave me a hug no matter what before I left anything

Caleb: Going to grandparents camp at Woodland Altars. I think of her singing voice when I remember camp songs like shoo fly don’t bother me, the little skunks hole, Johnny apple seed, Superman, and more. I also remember loving making homemade ice cream in zip lock bags at camp

Zach: The biggest memory is that she always made me read.

Kyle: I remember when my brother and I were in elementary school and would go to Grandma's house after school. She would have us do extra homework and limited our TV time making us go outside to play. At the time we didn't know it, but she was doing what she loved most, to teach. She taught us that extra effort pays off, and that we can be just as creative as television shows. Those and many other lessons were just one of the ways she showed her love for her family.

Cassi: (from Anita) Mom was a strong force in Cassi’s life. Balancing Grandma and mom in the early years as I attended college, then helping her with homework. Cassi loved her immensely and appreciated the opportunities mom had given her. In her thank you note to Mom and Dad after her wedding to Ryan, Cassi wrote “thank you for all you help…we couldn’t have done it without you