Alexander Allison Campbell

CAMPBELL, Alexander Allison October 11, 2011 It is with broken hearts we announce the loss of our dear husband, father and grandpa (Poppy). Alex worked hard but his family always came first. Alex was born in 1941 in St. Joseph’s Hospital. He was always proud of his Scottish heritage and even more proud of Victoria and the support of customers who made it possible to give back to the Island. The children and grandchildren have happy memories of special holidays and fishing trips with their dad and grandpa. He would brave the rain and winds to watch the grandkids play soccer and come home with wet shoes. Alex opened the first Thrifty Foods in 1977 with Ernie Skinner. Ernie was a friend and perfect business partner. It takes a great staff to make a successful business and he always made sure to acknowledge that the success of Thrifty Foods was due to the contribution made by all the employees. The employees of Thrifty Foods were loyal to Alex and in return he was loyal to them and loved them like a second family. Alex was an honest, loyal man and this could be seen in the continuing close relationship he had with Island Farms after they lent Thrifty Foods the money it needed to open its’ first store in Fairfield. It was a lucky day when Alex and Ernie met Prue Cunningham with her great idea for Sendial. Alex was proud to be Prue’s friend and even prouder of all the Sendial volunteers. He loved boating and had boats even as a young boy of 14 years old. When the children were younger he and the family sailed and later in life he had power boats and enjoyed his get togethers with the Capital City Yacht Club boaters. He will always be remembered with respect and love by wife Jo of 49 years. Children Alex and wife Bronwen, Lorne and wife Nancy, Bonnie and husband Frank Wright. The grandchildren were the light of his life Pelle, Haden, Sofie, Nick, Alison, Kayleigh and Connor. Alex is survived by loving sister Margaret and Sam Brooks of Portland, Oregon and their daughters Marion and Simone; brother-in-law Terry and Diane Ward, sister-in-law Cathy and Bob Etherington, Nancy and Wayne Simpson, Penny Zink and Peter Nicholson. Alex is also survived by his Aunt Terry Kerr, Jean Anderson and families dear cousins Andy and Joan Sturrock, and many cousins, nieces and nephews who loved and respected Alex. He also had many good friends whom he loved and who loved him back and the family thanks them for all their friendship and support. Special thanks go to friend and loyal assistant Jan MacBurney. The family would like to thank the kindness and care of Dr. Phil Huggett, Dr. Don McAdams, Dr. Chris Jones, Dr. Pearson, Dr. Weir, Dr. Holland, Dr. Karimuddin and the wonderful nursing staff of the Victoria Jubilee Hospital Patient Care Centre 8 floor south, Debbie, Carla, Caroline, Courtenay, Katherine, Jo, Martha, Julietta, Sumeet. Also thank you to emergency room nurses Chris and Rick and all the support staff at the Royal Jubilee Hospital who are too numerous to mention. Our thanks also go out to Dr. Helen Anderson at the BC Cancer Agency and to Dr. Liu and Betty Lum at the Vancouver General Hospital. Our apologies if we accidentally omitted any names. A celebration of Dad’s life will be held at the Victoria Conference Centre on Sunday, October 30th at 1:00 p.m. doors will open at 12 noon. In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be made to the BC Cancer Foundation 2410 Lee Avenue, Victoria, B.C. V8R 6V5 (250)519-5550 or online at http:/ / donate.bccancerfoundation.com/goto/ alexcampbell Dad if love could have saved you, you would never have died. Alex was fond of saying Life’s short eat your dessert first”.