Quinton Smith
Crime scene tape and Lincoln County Sheriff’s deputies restrict entrance the parking lot at Crestview Golf Course and home of co-owner Mark Campbell, who was found dead there early Sunday.
By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com
Mark Campbell was a helper.
He helped guide the city of Waldport for 16 years.
He helped get kids and adults interested in the sport of golf at his Crestview Golf Course.
He went out for years to find and cut the Christmas tree that greeted locals and visitors at the south end of the Alsea Bay bridge.
He offered the course’s café, himself and staff to raise money for everything from the chamber of commerce, to the high school, to the Moose Lodge’s efforts to feed the community during the coronavirus pandemic.
And, it probably contributed to his stabbing death early Sunday when he went to investigate a break-in at an apartment adjacent to his overlooking the practice green at the course.
And, as the community mourns Campbell’s shocking death and detectives hunt his killer, the hundreds of people who knew him are trying to focus on how he was always willing to help anyone and everyone.
In addition to running Crestview Golf Course and opening up a new housing development on it, Campbell was serving his fourth, four-year term on the Waldport City Council. He was first elected in 2004.
“He did it because he liked to help,” said city manager Dann Cutter, who previously served as a councilor and mayor with Campbell. “He was always somebody who stepped up to help. He had no special agenda; he just wanted to do the best thing for the city.”
No new information on investigation
The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office said Campbell’s wife, Christine, called 9-1-1 at 3:37 a.m. Sunday to say he was fighting with an intruder at an unoccupied apartment two doors away. Noise from an apparent break-in woke them up. She called police while he went next door to investigate.
A step-daughter told the online news site Lincoln County Homepage that Campbell was stabbed immediately during the confrontation and died before Lincoln County Sheriff’s deputies could respond.
Another relative said the intruder or intruders, locked the door behind them as they fled, forcing deputies to break into the house to attempt to rescue Campbell.
His death is being investigated by the Lincoln County major crimes task force, which includes representatives from the district attorney’s office, law enforcement agencies throughout the county, and Oregon State Police.
On Tuesday, the sheriff’s office said that state police had finished collecting evidence from the apartment and it was being sent to the state crime lab for analysis. In a news release, the department said while it had “received overwhelming support” from the community with information and leads to the case, no arrests had been made.
The sheriff’s office also said it was seeking any surveillance video from residents in the area of Crestline and Range Drive to help with the investigation. A spokesman for the sheriff’s office said Thursday there were no new developments in the case.
The break-in occurred in the unoccupied apartment of Ron Remy, who had died Nov. 24 of cancer. Remy, a longtime golf instructor at Agate Beach Golf Course, was an accomplished painter and known collector.
Campbell is co-owner of the golf course with his ex-wife, Patti Campbell, and investors Dale and Lynda Laurance.
Tributes, remembrances pour in
Tributes to Campbell and condolences to his family are pouring in on Facebook. The Waldport City Council canceled its scheduled meeting Thursday, members saying they were too shocked to conduct business.
And everyone was trying to remember how he had helped them or the community.
One of those is Steve Cooper, the athletic director at Waldport High School, who said Campbell was a huge supporter of the school, athletics and, of course, the golf teams.
“I never heard Mark say the word “No” to Waldport High School or anyone in the community,” Cooper said. “He was a problem solver.”
Cooper said Campbell was always offering his facilities for fundraisers, whether they were tournaments or meals. If a kid needed golf equipment Campbell found some to give.
Cooper said he recently approached Campbell about staging a cross country track meet at the course.
“He said “Let’s see if we can make that work’,” Cooper said. “I must have gone to him with 10 different things and he never said ‘No.’”
Campbell and the golf course is one of three participating in a county-wide effort to provide free access to the course, equipment and instruction during the coronavirus pandemic and school shutdown. Out of respect to Campbell, Cooper said the school has suspended its participation indefinitely.
“We hope to get back on the course sometime and play in his honor,” Cooper said.
Mark Mobley of Waldport knew Campbell for 15 years, including the last five as coach of the Waldport High School’s boys and girls golf teams. There would have not been a golf program without Campbell’s efforts, he said.
“He was a great guy … just always friendly, always willing to have a conversation with you no matter what he had going on,” Mobley said. “He thought of others first.”
Mobley, who lives just two blocks from the golf course, said the neighborhood is shaken by the killing. “It’s rattled the cage for a lot of us,” he said.
City issues special statement
Cutter, the city manager, served for years on the council with Campbell, admiring his even-keeled approach to city matters.
“He was the one who would rein in my crazy ideas,” Cutter said. “He was someone I could always count on to really look for what would be best for the city … and if we couldn’t figure it out, he would.”
Cutter, Mayor Susan Woodruff and mayor-elect Greg Holland on Monday posted a tribute to Campbell on the city’s Facebook page, saying Campbell “was the best of us.”
“Most of us have stories of how he helped us, how he first gave and then fundraised for organizations in need, how he taught kids to love golf, and how he helped the town,” it said in part. “And Mark served … whether it was the Chamber, the Council, or best of all, his BBQ to those of us lucky enough to have gone up to the course on a late summer afternoon.”
“Mark was the nicest guy in the room in whatever room he walked into. He looked always for ways to help. He was a mentor to many, passing along his wisdom and life experiences to make us all better neighbors. To understand both sides of an issue. To communicate.”
“We don’t yet know who did this horrible thing. We don’t yet have answers. But, Mark’s end reminds us all that it is the journey that matters. We cannot let his life be defined by how it ended. We cannot let his memory forever be defined by a stranger in the dark.”
“Mark would be the first to be saddened that his death would change this town. He’d also be the first to tell us that we can’t let this one event define Waldport. So, when we remember Mark, we must think of his charity and good works. Of the heart and soul he poured into those efforts. Let his life be a reminder that we write the book of our lives each day – and it is what we put in those pages that counts.”
