December 5, 1937 - December 31, 2024
Thurid Margrethe Campbell, D.D.S., was born to Oscar and Sigrid Kaaber in the Faroe Islands (Thorshavn), Denmark, on December 5, 1937. Her family returned to mainland Denmark following World War II. Thurid graduated first in her class from Svendborg High School, at which time she could speak five languages.
After graduation from the Royal College of Dentistry in Copenhagen, she practiced dentistry in Denmark and Morocco. Subsequently, she completed a Fellowship in Pedodontics sponsored by a Fulbright Scholarship at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry.
While in Rochester, she met Earl W. Campbell Jr., M.D. Earl and Thurid married in Ringe, Denmark, on December 27, 1963. At that time, responding to the Vietnam War physicians draft plan, Earl had become a captain in the U.S. Air Force, stationed in Evreux, France, where their first son, Earl III, was born. The family lived in France until July 1965, when Earl resumed his medical training in Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan, where their second son, Gregory, was born.
Thurid qualified for United States Licensure in Dentistry by completing a second dental degree at West Virginia University School of Dentistry. Throughout her life and career, she maintained a strong bond with her family in Denmark, returning with family regularly.
In 1979, Thurid joined the Dental Department at Medical College of Ohio at Toledo (MCO), retiring as a professor of dentistry in 2007. While at MCO, her focus was on teaching geriatric dentistry, dentistry for mentally disabled children and adults, dental evaluation of patients requiring transplant surgery, performance of special dental procedures in hospital operating suites requiring anesthesia. Off campus teaching sites included Darlington House and the Northwest Ohio Developmental Center. During this time, Thurid also served for term as the vice president of the American Geriatric Dental Society.
As a member of the American Association of University Women, she belonged to the Great Books Club Group and crocheted afghan blankets for the Battered Women Shelter in Toledo. She was president of the Miami Valley Audubon Society and played a major role in establishing the Kuhnle Nature Preserve on Middle Bass Island in Lake Erie. She sang soprano in the Maumee and Perrysburg Presbyterian church choirs, was a member of the Perrysburg Chorale and was a founder of the MCO Gourmet Club. She enjoyed sailing with her husband and was a member of the Perrysburg Boat club.
Thurid was a member or contributor to the Toledo Museum of Fine Arts, the Toledo Zoo, the Cognoscenti book club, the Scandinavian Club, Friends of Wood County Parks, the Nature Conservancy, Black Swamp Bird Observatory and the Perrysburg League of Women Voters. She was particularly supportive of preserving women’s personal health rights.
Thurid was first and foremost a loving wife and mother of two sons. Her husband, Earl Wm. Campbell Jr., M.D.; sons, Earl Wm. Campbell III, Ph.D., and Gregory E. Campbell mourn her loss. She also is survived in Denmark by her siblings, Svend Kaaber, D.D.S.; Knud Kaaber, M.D., and numerous very loved nieces, nephews and their children. She also is aso survived by her Earl’s sister, Sally Young (Campbell), her husband, Dan, and nephews and their children. She was preceded in death by her sister, Anne Lise Nevald.
Friends may visit at the Coyle Funeral Home, 1770 South Reynolds Road, Toledo, on Saturday, April 5, from 2 to 4 p.m. Interment will be private.
Donations in Thurid’s name are requested to be provided to: Lake Erie Islands Conservatory, P.O. Box 461, Put-In-Bay, Ohio 43456, lakeerieislandsconservancy. org or to Black Swamp Bird Observatory, 13551 West State Route 2, Oak Harbor, Ohio 43449, bsbo.org. Please view and sign the online “guest registry” at Coyle FuneralHome.com