Don Campbell named Pioneer Day Marshal
Don Campbell. Courtesy photo.
Don and his wife Gail were honored as Roblans of the Year in 2012
– Don Campbell has been selected as this year’s Paso Robles Pioneer Day Marshal.
Don, a Cal Poly graduate, married his wife Gail during his time at the university. They purchased a ranch in Templeton’s El Pomar District where they currently reside and raised their three daughters: Kathy, Debbie, and Lori.
Over the years, Don has been involved in various agricultural pursuits, farming a range of crops including grain, hay, and grapes. He also had a small purebred sheep operation. In 1971, Don earned a master’s degree in agriculture from Cal Poly. He subsequently taught agriculture and shop at San Luis High School for seven years and established a real estate office in Paso Robles.
Don’s community involvement includes serving as one of the original founders of Heritage Oaks Bank, where he was a board member until his retirement in 2017. He joined the Paso Robles Chamber of Commerce board in 1994 and has been an active member of the Pioneer Day Tractor Committee since 1968. He served as the Pioneer Day Chairman in 1981.
Don’s dedication to service is further exemplified by his longstanding membership in the Paso Robles Rotary Club, where he spent 48 years and served as the club president from 1990-1991. Additionally, he was a 4-H Club leader for 14 years and held board positions with the Paso Robles Grape Growers and the SLO County Grape Growers.
Don and Gail were honored as Roblans of the Year in 2012, recognizing their exceptional contributions to the community. They have seven grandchildren and recently welcomed their first great-grandchild named Campbell.
Don’s maternal family timeline:
- Don’s Maternal Great Grandfather Elbridge Miles was born in Maine in 1830.
- In 1850, Elbridge set sail around the horn to California and married his wife, Mary.
- 10 years later (1860) he put together bands of sheep.
- In 1872, he brought his sheep enterprise to San Luis Obispo, specifically the Cholame and Bitterwater area.
- In 1874, Elbridge purchased land near the Avila Hot Springs and built Miles Station on the Pacific Coast Railway.
- This station took agriculture commodities and shipped them out of the Avila pier on boats to go north and south.
- In 1886, Elbridge sold Miles Station and decided to begin farming in the Oso Flaco Valley until his death in 1899.
- In the mid-1870s, a young man named Nathan King from Pennsylvania went to work at Miles Station. He ended up marrying Elbridge and Mary’s daughter, Amanda, and the couple went on to have six children, one of which is Don’s Grandmother, Mabel.
- Nathan King was the San Luis Obispo County Clerk and Recorder from 1875 until his sudden death in 1884.
- Nathan and Mary’s daughter, Mabel, went on to marry Frank Campbell (Don’s grandfather) and lived in the San Francisco area where they had two sons, Herschel, and Don (Don’s father)
Don’s paternal family timeline:
- Don’s Great Grandfather, John Campbell, and his wife, Isabell, came across the plains in a covered wagon from Indiana to San Luis Obispo in 1873
- John was a carpenter by trade, and upon arrival to San Luis Obispo, went to work for John Hartford to build the Avila Pier.
- They owned a farm in Sea Canyon where Don’s Grandfather, Frank, was born and raised.
- In the mid-1880s, John went to work on The La Panza Mines
- In 1885, John and his wife, Isabell, purchased the La Panza Saloon. He tore the saloon and dance hall down after several years and used the lumber to build his own Saloon a ¼ of a mile up the canyon under a spreading oak tree called Campbell Tree. This tree still stands on the La Panza Ranch.
- John and Isabell’s son, Frank, (Don’s grandfather) married Mabel and lived in San Francisco where he joined the San Francisco Police Department as one of the first fifteen motorcycle police in CA.
- In 1900 they decided to purchase a ranch in the Santa Clara Valley.
- Frank and Mabel had two sons Hershel and Donald ( Don’s father) who was born in 1905.
- Don’s Father, Don Sr., relocated from Northern California to Atascadero in 1934 where he owned a jewelry store and married his wife, Carolyn Wynn.
- They later moved back to the family ranch in Santa Clara in 1941 where they built a home and started their family. Don was born in 1941 and his sister Jean was born a few years later.
Comments
