Westmont Magazine In Memory of Lotus Campbell '44

Lotus I. Graham Campbell ’44, a resident of Santa Barbara for 12 years, passed away to the visible presence of her Lord on June 29, 2001. She was 79.

Born in Escondido, Calif., she and her sister, Almeda Graham Boone ’43, attended San Diego public schools. Lotus was chosen “Fairest of the Fair” at the San Diego County Fair and served as student body president of Hoover High School. She was named the first Westmont College May Queen in 1941. After graduating from Westmont in 1944, she received a master of religious education degree from Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary. She also pursued further graduate studies at CSU Los Angeles.

Lotus served as minister of Christian education at North Park Baptist Church of San Diego and the First Baptist Church of Covina. She was a kindergarten teacher in the Charter Oak School District in Covina for more than a dozen years. She subsequently became a teacher and director of a Philadelphia-area church- based preschool program Lotus married a college classmate, Robert C. Campbell ’44, and gave a lifetime of support to his ministries. Her son, Robin C. Campbell, is an attorney in Los Angeles and the moderator of the First Baptist Church of Pasadena. Her daughter, Cherry C. Campbell, a linguist, has served on the faculty of UC Los Angeles, Monterey Institute of International Studies and Sonoma State University.

Lotus’ ministry continues in the lives of the many whom she has touched across the years.