[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 48 (Tuesday, March 20, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E590]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING RUTH CAMPBELL

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. MARK UDALL

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 20, 2007

  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to 
Ruth Kueffer Campbell who turned 80 years of age on March 9, 2007.
  Ruth was born in Milwaukee, WI, to Ernest and Alma Kueffer. Her 
father was an immigrant from Switzerland and her mother was from 
Davenport, IA. Completing the family was Ruth's brother, Carl, 8 years 
her senior.
  Ruth was a good student in high school and was selected for the 
National Honor Society. Upon graduation, she entered cadet nurses 
training at the Misericordia Catholic Hospital in Milwaukee. She always 
wanted to be a nurse and also wanted to serve in the military.
  With her RN degree in hand, Ruth enlisted in the Air Force. She did 
her basic training at Chanutte AFB in Illinois and then was off to 
flight school at Maxwell AFB in Alabama. From there she was assigned to 
France, where, on her very first night she and the other new nurses 
were invited to have dinner with the officer who headed the Office of 
Special Investigations. That officer eventually became her husband, 
John Campbell. But that took some time and off-duty travel with close 
friends to Spain and other neighboring countries.
  When Ruth was honorably discharged from the Air Force in 1954, she 
planned to move to the state of Washington where she had relatives. She 
wrote to her AF buddy, John who was stationed at Lowry, to tell him 
about her move. John encouraged Ruth to stop in Denver on her way to 
Washington. Needless to say, she never made it to Washington. Instead, 
she continued her nursing career at the VA Hospital in Denver.
  Ruth and John were married in the Chapel at Lowry AFB in 1955. Within 
the next 2 years, their daughters Pat and Terry were born at 
Fitzsimons. Soon after Terry's arrival, John was transferred to an OSI 
unit in Okinawa, and the family went along. Son, Mike, was born there 
in 1960. The following year, John was reassigned to Lowry and the 
Campbells bought a home near Geneva Street and Montview Boulevard in 
Aurora. Ruth quickly settled into her new community and soon was 
volunteering with the PTA at Crawford Elementary School, teaching 
Sunday school at the Fitzsimons Catholic Parish, starting a girls' 
softball league and serving as a scout leader--she was the Girl Scout 
Cookie chair for all of Aurora for five years.
  In 1964, John retired from the Air Force and joined the Adams County 
Sheriff's Department, specializing in investigations, handwriting 
analysis and polygraphs. Four years later, John ran for the State 
House. While he didn't win that election, Ruth was hooked and became 
very involved in Democratic Party politics--first as a precinct 
committee person and then as a captain. Nearly a decade after Ruth 
caught the political bug, John was appointed to fill a vacancy as an 
Adams County Commissioner. Two year's later, he successfully ran for 
that office. In 1979, Ruth's beloved husband of 24 years passed away at 
the age of 59 at Fitzsimons Army Medical Center.
  Ruth continued her political involvement and became a mentor for a 
host of candidates from City Council to County Commission and the State 
House and everything in between. Among the Democratic office holders 
who benefited from Ruth's knowledge and experience are Don Armstrong, 
Guillermo deHerrerra, Bob Grant, Mary Hodges, Molly Markert, Bill 
Shear, Stephanie Takis, Frank Weddig and Leo Younger. Ruth has always 
been strongly committed to political activism and was a founding member 
of the Aurora Democratic Club more than two decades ago.
  Ruth's political savvy wasn't limited to candidates. She also became 
involved in several important ballot measures, the 1986 Adams County 
mill levy for mental health services and most recently the Aurora 
Sports Park near Colfax and Tower.
  If it wasn't a political campaign, Ruth found many other places where 
her energy, common sense and organizational skills were more than 
welcome. She served on the Board of Directors of the Aurora Mental 
Health Center for 6 years, has been an active member of the Northwest 
Aurora Neighborhood Organization, NANO, since its inception in 1975, 
was a 23 year member of the City of Aurora Parks and Recreation 
Advisory Board, is an active member of the Society of Military Widows, 
and serves on the Accountability Committee at Fletcher School. Ruth 
also records textbooks for sight-impaired students at the Community 
College of Aurora.
  Ruth's good works have not gone unnoticed. She has received a number 
of honors, including the 1980 Liberty Bell Award as ``Outstanding 
Citizen of Adams County.'' She has been honored with a Circle of Life 
Award in recognition for her many contributions to the north Aurora 
community. In 2002, Ruth was named a ``Woman Sculptor of the 
Community,'' an honor for which she was nominated by the Aurora 
Democratic Club.
  As Ruth celebrates her 80th birthday and a lifetime of civic and 
political involvement, I know Republicans and Democrats alike wish her 
the very best.

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