THE ADVOCATE 437
VOL. 79 PART 3 MAY 2021
NEW JUDGES
By R.C. Tino Bella
The Honourable Judge Jeffrey Campbell
Jeffrey Campbell has the qualities of the quintessential
judge. A mild-mannered, contemplative, patient
man of few words, he is a natural listener who relates
effortlessly to people from all walks of life and has a
good sense of what is fair. These characteristics are
obvious to anyone who meets him. Yet there is more.
Those who know Jeff well see what lies beneath
this calm exterior. By nature, he is a resourceful and creative person. Unpretentious
and affable, he exudes genuine interest and compassion toward
others. He has a spirit for adventure and an appetite for the road less travelled,
coupled with a catholic taste in music, literature and movies. At a
very basic level, he is equal parts country boy and city slicker (with a touch
of hipster).
Jeff was born in 1971 in Wallaceburg, Ontario, a farming town of 10,000
people, sandwiched between London to the east and Detroit to the west.
The first child of Thomas (Tom) and Janet Campbell, he is a brother to
Robert (Bobby) and Meg.
Jeff’s parents were teachers who hailed from families of nurses, farmers
and workers at the Wallaceburg glass factory. When Jeff was a child, the
family moved throughout southwestern Ontario, following Tom and Janet’s
teaching careers. In the words of the Tragically Hip, a band Jeff followed
long before its rise to fame, the Campbells were “looking for a place to happen,
making stops along the way”. Their stops included the towns of Forest,
Grand Bend, Port Dover, Mitchell and Stratford.
With their home on the move and three young children to raise, Janet
Campbell was the lodestar who dedicated herself to the betterment and
growth of the family. Tom was a teacher, coach and guidance counsellor,