Birth date: Nov 4, 1931 Death date: Feb 26, 2026
Phyllis “Lou Ann” Boutelle Campbell, age 94, of Lakeland, passed peacefully from this earthly life into the presence of her Heavenly Father on February 26, 2026, at Good Shepherd Hospice. Lou Ann was born November 4, 1931, in Lak Read Obituary
We miss your beautiful smile, but we rejoice in knowing you are with our Heavenly Father and that we will be reunited one day.
Lou Ann (Lou) Campbell left this world earlier this week at 93 years old, and while her passing carries sorrow, it also carries the deep, steady love of a life beautifully lived.
Lou was the mother of my brother-in-law — a man she raised with kindness, integrity, and quiet strength. In doing so, she gave our family more than she could ever have known. She was a second mother to my sister, especially after our own mom passed nearly twenty years ago at just 64. My sister had been dating Lou’s son since she was sixteen — they grew up together, married, and built a life that blessed us all with two wonderful boys whom Lou adored beyond measure.
Lou loved with her whole heart. She volunteered at the regional hospital, her church, and throughout her community well into her latter years. Service was not something she did; it was who she was. She was a walker too — brisk and steady through her neighborhood, keeping pace with life. That habit lives on now in my sister, who has taken up walking in her own season of healing. I like to think Lou would smile at that.
In her later years, she lived in a memory clinic, but even as memories faded, her spirit did not. She was full of grace. She sang hymns right up until the end. Music seemed to live somewhere deeper than memory.
My own memories of Lou are wrapped in holidays — her festive sweaters, her gentle humor, her easy and welcoming smile. And the eggnog — oh, the eggnog — homemade and impossibly rich, like drinking custard. It was legendary. She carried her strong Nordic heritage with pride, honoring traditions and stories that connected generations.
Her beloved husband, Bob, a WWII veteran, passed many years ago. This week she will be laid to rest beside him — together again, at peace. I imagine that reunion as tender and joyful.
She leaves behind her devoted son, a loving daughter-in-law, and two fine grandsons who carry her imprint. She leaves my sister, who gained not just a mother-in-law but a steady, loving presence when she needed it most. She leaves all of us with the living example of what “family” truly means — not just blood, but welcome; not just tradition, but generosity; not just years, but grace.
I will always remember her smile. And I will always be grateful that she raised a son who found and loved my sister, weaving our families together in a way that continues to bless us.
Flights of Angels have taken her home.
May she rest in peace, and may we carry forward the light she gave so freely.
