Marguerite L. Campbell, a longtime Curtis Bay resident and neighborhood activist, died of renal failure Sunday at Stella Maris Hospice at Mercy Medical Center. She was 95.
Born Marguerite Laura Boidy in Baltimore and raised in Curtis Bay, she attended city public schools.
In 1929, she married George W. Campbell, a stationary engineer for Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. Mr. Campbell died in 1975.
During the late 1920s, Mrs. Campbell was a long-distance operator for Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Co., and in the 1930s she was a switchboard operator for S&N Katz Jewelers.
During World War II, Mrs. Campbell took a job as a switchboard operator at Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Co. in Curtis Bay, where she was promoted to the metallurgical department and verified formulas used in the casting of railroad wheel sets.
After the war, she became a homemaker and activist.
"She was affectionately known as the `mayor of Curtis Bay' and held such offices as treasurer of the Brooklyn-Curtis Bay Historical Committee and later the Curtis Bay Improvement Association," said her son, Robert B. Campbell of Curtis Bay.
Mrs. Campbell was a past president of the Community Service Club of Curtis Bay, the Parent-Teacher Association of Curtis Bay Elementary School and the Service Guild of St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church of Curtis Bay.
She had been active in the Girl Scouts and was a longtime volunteer with the local Well-Baby Clinic and Grandparents Reading Program.
"She also was instrumental in successfully advocating for the pool, playground and recreation center in Curtis Bay," her son said.
A memorial service will be held at 10:15 a.m. Jan. 23 at St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church, 3909 Pennington Ave.
She is also survived by five grandchildren and four great-granddaughters.
