Eileen Marie Campbell

Eileen was born on the 14th of January 1958, in Jersey City, NJ to the late James Peter and Agnes Leona Campbell. The youngest of seven siblings, Eileen grew up in a busy, boisterous and love-filled home in Bayonne, NJ before moving to Point Pleasant on the Jersey Shore. While attending Point Pleasant High School, Eileen served as Class President and Editor of the yearbook. Eileen’s involvement in the school community led to an introduction to her future husband, Doug Perley, at the wedding of her high school advisor in 1976. Eileen and Doug married in 1982 in Bay Head, NJ and celebrated 41 years of enduring friendship and love.

Eileen’s life centered around family, profession, and service. As an incredibly passionate and caring person she embraced many causes, and her impact reached far and wide. She has certainly left her mark on the world for the better.

Eileen’s career began after graduating from the University of Maryland with a degree in Political Science in 1980. She first worked in Washington, DC as a lobbyist for the New Jersey Department of Education. Eileen and Doug moved to Houston in 1984 when she assumed the position of Director of Government Affairs for the National Association of Manufacturers.

In 1991, Eileen became the Manager of Government Affairs at Marathon Oil Company, where she spent the rest of her career as a groundbreaking female executive until retiring in 2013. As the first woman in the company’s history to achieve the position of Officer, Eileen held the posts of Vice President of Human Resources and Vice President of Public Policy. During her 22 years at Marathon, she impacted countless lives as a colleague, mentor and friend.

As a survivor of breast cancer since 2005, Eileen’s experience with the disease fueled an unparalleled commitment to community involvement in the fight against cancer. She served as the President of the Board for Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation of Greater Houston and as the Chair of the Board for The Rose, a Houston area non-profit dedicated to providing breast health care and mammograms to all women, regardless of their ability to pay. In addition to these passions, Eileen served on the Board of Directors for TDECU, Chairman of the Board for the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering and on the Board of Girls Inc. of Greater Houston. In recent years, Eileen worked alongside her daughter, Kathleen, as the Chief Administrative Officer at Decode Digital, a digital advertising agency founded by Kathleen in 2013.

Eileen’s generosity, compassion, intelligence, and energy are famous amongst all who know her. One way she demonstrated her deep, abiding love for friends and family was by hosting numerous showers, receptions and events at her home where the door was always open. Eileen cherished and nurtured her many friendships unconditionally. Just as Eileen “never met a stranger,” she delighted in connecting people and building bridges between friends, colleagues, and family members with new acquaintances.

Eileen is survived by her husband and love of her life, Douglas Perley; daughter Meghan Leggett and husband Carter and their son Graham; and daughter Kathleen Perley and her husband, Nick Becraft. She is also survived by five siblings including her sister, Leona Gans and husband Bob; Eileen’s four brothers, Jay Campbell and wife Nancy, Robert Campbell, John Campbell, and Tim Campbell and wife, Joy. In addition, Eileen was blessed and loved by nieces and nephews too numerous to fit onto a newspaper page. She is preceded in death by her sister, Mary Jane Kennelly, and her brother Robert’s wife, Connie.

Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the family from five o’clock in the afternoon until eight o’clock in the evening on Monday, the 5th of February, in the library and grand foyer of Geo. H. Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Drive in Houston.

The funeral mass is to be offered at one o’clock in the afternoon on Tuesday, the 6th of February at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church, 1801 Sage Road in Houston.

Immediately following the Mass, all guests are invited to greet the family during a reception to be held at Ciao Bello Restaurant, 5161 San Felipe Street in Houston.

In lieu of customary remembrances and in memory of Eileen’s overwhelming generosity, the family requests that memorial contributions be directed toward the “Eileen Campbell Memorial Fund” at MD Anderson Cancer Center, P.O. Box 4486, Houston, TX 77210 (mdanderson.org/gifts); or to The Rose, 12700 N. Featherwood, Ste. 260, Houston, TX 77034 (therose.org/eileen).