Nursing home industry pioneer Carl Campbell dies at 98

Sep. 22--WENATCHEE -- Carl Campbell, whose legacy includes a retirement and assisted-living company that once spanned more than 180 facilities, and many other business and philanthropic endeavors, has died.

The Wenatchee icon and community leader passed away Thursday at age 98, at Colonial Vista Retirement and Assisted Living in Wenatchee, where he lived in a penthouse on the top floor.

Campbell founded Triple-C Convalescent Centers, which later became Colonial Care Group.

He and his late wife, Betty, who died in 2010, opened their first nursing home facility in Wenatchee in 1954. From there, the company expanded to 21 states.

In 2016, at the age of 94, Campbell announced he was retiring and selling the last four facilities he owned -- including Colonial Vista and Hearthstone Cottage in East Wenatchee -- to Vancouver-based Prestige Care.

A flying enthusiast, Campbell owned and piloted multiple private jets before founding Executive Flight at Pangborn Memorial Airport in 1982. The air ambulance and charter business grew to have 14 jets and more than 100 employees, but was later downsized to offer fueling, maintenance and hangar rentals. The headquarters building at Pangborn Memorial Airport is now owned by the Chelan Douglas Port Authority, serving as its main office.

"Mr. Campbell was an amazing man, completely devoted to his greater community," Port of Douglas Commissioner Mark Spurgeon said.

Campbell helped the Port of Douglas with acquisition of the building at the Pangborn Business Park that now houses Accor Technologies, Spurgeon said.

His work with seniors, though, had a longer reach.

"Mr. Campbell's work in helping seniors through nursing homes and rehabilitation centers serves as just another example of his efforts to help others," Spurgeon said. "We've lost a giant in our community."

Campbell, who was born and raised in Yakima, studied to become a certified public accountant and later worked in the lumber and building industry. His first senior-living project was with his brother, Willis, converting a house in Union Gap to a nursing home. He later brought his oldest brother Foster into the business, working together on development and startup.

Carl and his wife arrived in Wenatchee in 1953 to build Parkside Manor Nursing Home. It continued in operation from 1954 until 2007. They gifted the facility in 2009 to the city of Wenatchee to be used as a behavioral health campus.

The value of the property at the time was estimated at $3.5 million.

"Betty and I started there," Carl Campbell was quoted in a news story at the time. "We built the building and improved the street. Thousands of people were helped there. We just thought the best thing to do was to see it continue the tradition of good care in the community."

Former Sen. Linda Evans Parlette said the Campbells did a lot of work behind the scenes. "They did a lot for the community, but didn't broadcast it," she said.

She worked with Campbell on the transfer of the Parkside facility.

"I loved working with him," she said. "When it reopened, it felt good to see the building turned into something that was useful and helpful.

Through the Carl and Betty Campbell Foundation of Caring Fund, the Campbells contributed millions to charities, churches and other causes, including $1 million to the Central Washington Hospital Foundation in 2011. Donations also went toward a new home for the East Wenatchee Seventh-day Adventist Spanish Church and an expansion of the Cascade Christian Academy.

In 2010, Carl Campbell received a lifetime achievement award at the Greater Wenatchee Area Technology Alliance's Innovator Awards Luncheon. In 2012, he received the inaugural Legacy Award at the Wenatchee Valley Chamber of Commerce's annual banquet.

Elizabeth Campbell, Foster Campbell's widow, who lives in Seattle, said Carl's passing is an end of an era. She worked with Carl on the construction of two nursing homes, one in Boise, Idaho, and the other in Sparks, Nevada.

"Carl gave me the money to pay for the land, to hold it until the bond financing came through," she said. "He was good to me."

And to others, she said.

"I think Carl was a huge credit to everything he touched," she said. "One of his distinguishing features is he was a good Christian and he followed through on that in business."

Elizabeth Campbell said Carl's wife, Betty, was a guiding force in his life.

"She was the gatekeeper. Before projects moved forward, they had to convince Betty first," she said.

Wenatchee Downtown Association Executive Director Linda Haglund said she recalls hearing a lot about Carl Campbell growing up.

"My mother was the morning waitress at the Chieftain Restaurant (a legacy restaurant that many miss to this day). The Campbells were regulars at the Chieftain and my mother was their preferred waitress," she said. "Even before I knew the contributions to this community, my mother would talk about what generous and community-minded people they were. Especially Carl. The businesses they started, the people their facilities helped and the contributions they made to their charities were substantial."

Haglund said Campbell didn't seek the limelight, so many of his contributions to the community were done quietly.

"I always marveled on how he was present at places and things that were important to him," she said. "I believe that giving back was a part of his DNA. He supported those efforts and initiatives that he felt made this place special. His generosity of time, money and expertise is the legacy he leaves."

Carl and Betty Campbell had two children. Daughter Kathy Ball and her husband Marc Ball own the Gilded Lily in downtown Wenatchee.

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