Verna M. Campbell

In Louisiana, zydeco was a part of the culture, she learned to dance at a young age, and she loved it. As a teenager, she and her cousin Elvis (not THAT Elvis) won a Jitterbug contest. Her enthusiasm for dancing would set her on a path for life.

After high school in New Iberia, she moved with her mom to Corpus Christi where they lived on the beach. They made good friends, her mom started a business, and Verna attended secretarial school, graduating with skills that she would later put to good use.

Then Pearl Harbor was bombed and the world changed. Young Navy men were surging into the Corpus Christi Naval Station Flight School. It was the Big Band era, and young people were listening to the Dorseys, Glen Miller, Les Brown, and Benny Goodman. And they were dancing – Jitterbug, Swing, Foxtrot, and sentimental Waltzes.

Verna and some of her friends would go to the well-chaperoned USO club to dance with the Navy men. One evening a handsome young officer approached with this VERY smooth line… “If you are who I think you are, I know you.” She was. He did. He asked her to dance and the partnership began. The rest is as they say, history – over 71 years of history.

They dated a few months, and when he was sent to Atlanta for instrument training, he proposed, she accepted, and she flew to meet him. There was just one small snag… he had never asked the age of the lovely young lady he was about to wed, and when they applied for a marriage license, he discovered she wasn’t the 24- or 25-year-old he expected, but 17 – almost 18. To his credit, he didn’t get cold feet, her mother signed for her, the wedding went on as planned and she became Mrs. James Campbell. Well, almost as planned – the maid of honor managed to sit on the cake as it was being transported to the reception.

Training completed, Jim was ordered to San Francisco to begin flights in the South Pacific so the newlyweds, fortunate enough to have a car, made the cross-country trip from Atlanta to San Francisco – with a side trip to Jim’s home in Wisconsin to introduce his new wife to his parents. The long trip gave Jim the time to teach her to drive, and introduce her to snow, which she’d never seen.

From their quarters in Berkley, Verna waited like so many other young wives for the husbands to return for brief leaves on the mainland. While she lived in Berkley, Verna was a hat model for the prestigious I Magnin Department Store in downtown San Francisco. They told her they liked that her hair with its natural wave and curl could be styled so many ways for different styles of hats.

During Jim’s brief visits they made good use of their time together. They went with friends to the big hotel ballrooms to dance to the live bands that played there. When they danced together it seemed like they were floating on air.

When the war finally ended, Jim took his new wife home to Wisconsin, where she received a lot of attention. A brown-eyed gal with long wavy dark hair in the land of blond blue-eyed Hansons, Swensons, Larsons, Windbergs, and Swansons was quite a novelty. The southern drawl was just added charm, and she found herself receiving lots of invitations to teas and social gatherings. Still loving partners, they settled in, made friends and started a family. She joined his church. He was active in the American Legion; she was active in the auxiliary. He was on the church board; she worked in the Altar Guild and Ladies’ Aid Society.

About twelve years later, opportunity knocked, and they moved their family to Casper, Wyoming. Life progressed, and the partnership deepened. They shared activities and experiences as a team of two.

They gardened together – everything from asparagus to zucchini – and their roses would be the envy of Mr. Jackson and Mr. Perkins. They skied together. They camped together. They danced together. They traveled together. Sometimes they traveled by air, sometimes in their motor home, but mostly in their car, sharing the driving. That was the era of bench car seats, and they perfected the maneuver of switching drivers while traveling down the highway at 65 miles per hour, with at least one kid in the back seat asking “Are we there yet?”…. Jim?

In retirement, they found their way back to Texas where their story had begun. They took up bicycling together. They took up golfing together. And together, they spent many Happy Hours with friends drinking blue margaritas at the Imperial Bar in Reynoso, Mexico. They had more time to travel and were able to achieve their goal of visiting all 50 states, as well as South America, Europe and Canada. Oh yes, and Mexico. Verna and Jim saw their family grow from three children to young families that brought them six grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

She favored tailored clothing, but was comfortable in her gardening jeans. She was “Mrs. Clean,” a good cook, a perfectionist and a notorious conga line instigator – she told us the key is to ask young men to join in first because they are uncomfortable saying no to an old lady! She could be as delicate as lace, and as tough as nails. She could be deeply compassionate, or square her shoulders and rise to any challenge. First and best, she was a devoted partner to Jim. For 22 months she has deeply missed her partner. Now we will miss her deeply, but there is comfort in knowing that somewhere Les Brown’s band is playing, Doris Day is singing Sentimental Journey, and Jim and Verna are dancing to their song again.

Those left behind to cherish her memory include: Her children, Annette Currah and husband Mitch of Austin, Texas, James C. Campbell and wife Mary of Casper, Wyoming (and Sun City Texas), and Nelda Currah and husband Dan of Dripping Springs, Texas. Her grandchildren, Tom Currah and wife Raquel of Austin, Texas, Jennifer Kelley and husband Steve of Windsor, Colorado, James P. Campbell and wife Vicki of Wenatchee, Washington, Jeffery Campbell and wife Stephanie of Casper, Wyoming, Jon Currah of Austin, Texas, and Julie Moberg and husband Sunny of Dripping Springs, Texas. Her great-grandchildren, Hugh, Mason, and Campbell Currah of Austin, Texas, Rachel and Ben Campbell of Wenatchee, Washington, Jacob Hutchings of Casper, Wyoming, Jessica Currah of Austin, Texas and Cody and Rory Moberg of Dripping Springs, Texas. Her nephew and godson Bart Christensen of Dallas, Texas.