Thaine Campbell, Has it Really Been 5 Decades

Was it "The Summer of 69"

Hat tip Terri Bartrom Brumbaugh

Thaine Campbell was on the faculty list at Huntington North for over forty years teaching and mentoring hundreds of Huntington County band students before retiring in 2010.(or so was the plan)

 Mr Campbell was born in Angola Indiana. His parents had traveled from nearby Ohio where they lived and farmed. Then Thaine and his family resided in Huntington while his father attended Seminary at Huntington College. They moved to Hillsdale after Thaine completed John Tipton School third grade due to his father’s career taking them there. Thaine returned to Huntington in 1966 after high school graduation to attend Huntington

College and upon graduation with a major in P.E. and almost another major in Music( his Master’s from Indiana University)he discovered teaching music would be his passion. Soon after, when HNHS Band Director Norris Huston called with an offer to join staff where he had done his student teaching in 1969, the one week newlywed groom immediately accepted the Assistant Band Director’s desk and duties that were open due to Marvin Hall’s departure to the Manchester School System.  

So, the question this Editor (and former student of Thaine Campbell from his day one at HNHS) asks “Where is he now?”

Rather than spending hours researching archives I decided to take the direct approach and called the last number I had for Mr. Campbell. His wife Millicent, of 54 years, answered and informed me he was not at home, that he was attending a HNHS Band concert. I thought to myself, well, of course he is.

You can't take the music out of a band director. He had retired in 2010 highlighted by a shining tribute to his career at Huntington North.

When I caught up with Mr. Campbell he shared he's only semi-retired and that he is currently teaching music classes at Huntington University.  This ,however, is not his first return to the workforce; he previously rescued HNHS in 2015, when after the band returned from performing at the Indiana State Fair and then Director Marshall announced her resignation as she had been offered and accepted a position elsewhere.

As Mr. Campbell talked of his students he reminisced that each new combination of students brought a fresh set of ideas to the band, a different trend in music likes and he shared the fact many of the students went on to pursue a musical profession. One of his most memorable events with his students was the band’s participation in the 1989 Inaugural Parade of local native Vice President Dan Quayle and President George H.W. Bush.

In addition to his Huntington University role,

he is still active as Director of the Huntington Erie Community Band, one of Indiana’s oldest and longest running community bands.

The band established in 1915 has expanded to include a wind band, jazz band and small ensembles that perform around Huntington County in the summer months. 

 Mr. Campbell quips his schedule now is nothing compared to the forty years of schedules his family juggled.

He has plenty of time for his family (wife, two children and grandchildren), golf, and travel.  He and Millicent have traveled twice to Europe visiting 7 countries touring with the Indiana Bandmasters Association, as  well as several domestic trips since his 2010 “retirement”.

With a dedication accompanied by an air of humbleness to his chosen profession, Mr. Campbell continues to resonate over Huntington County teaching at Huntington University; an article in 2010 was titled "Saying Goodbye to the Campbells” and featured the combined 72 years of teaching Millie and Thaine shared.

Yet thankfully, for the many taught and mentored by Mr. Campbell -  he like music, never really says Goodbye.