Jerry Lawrence Campbell Jr.

St. George, Utah–On Monday, the 14th of November, our beloved husband, father, brother, uncle, and friend, Jerry Lawrence Campbell, Jr., passed away due to natural causes in the St. George Regional Hospital. He was born August 22nd, 1966, in Salt Lake City, Utah to Jerry Lawrence Campbell Sr. and Jean Page. He married Shannon Rose Byrum May 15th, 2015, in St. George, Utah.

Jerry was known by many names. Those who loved him referred to him as Bummer, Jay, and J.L. To his children, he was simply Dad.

Jerry grew up in Cottonwood Heights, Utah, learning to love the outdoors and all types of sports. He loved snow and water skiing and going to the local rec center to play basketball. Being the youngest of three, he was doted on by his sisters; for example, his sister, Cyd, brought home a dog for Jerry to raise, who he named Steps. As Jerry matured, his likes and hobbies evolved from playing with his matchbox car to reading and creating poetry, listening to U2, and watching the ballet. These were all loves that he eventually passed on to his kids, family, and friends.

Jerry married Raylynn Childs on September 1, 1990 in Las Vegas, Nevada. They lived in Utah, Arizona, and lastly, Colorado, where they lived for a brief time and later divorced. While their marriage had its ups and downs, Jerry took immense pride in his four children he had with Ray.

Jerry instilled his love of music, literature, golf, spiritualism, buddhism, and acceptance within his children. Jerry was many things as a dad, but maybe the best way to describe his fatherhood was–goofy. He taught his kids how to love animals, best exemplified in his ability to share the techniques of how to catch lizards, something he was always on the lookout for when hiking in the St. George desert. He made sure his kids had similar passions for his sports teams, even if those teams were terrible and gave the family much grief (i.e. Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders). He gave discourses on why John Keats was the greatest poet ever and how his kids should watch quality movies like Braveheart and Dead Poets Society.

Through all these instructions and demonstrations, Dad always let it be known that he loved you and wanted you to be happy, giving incredible hugs and simple pecks on the cheek.

After his divorce, Jerry moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where he found the rooms of recovery and came to first confront that he had the disease of addiction. While this experience planted a seed and his time in recovery there was short, his struggle with surrendering to recovery continued.

With these struggles, Jerry moved to St. George, Utah, where he eventually began to walk his slim path to recovery and growth. To recover, he began to volunteer and do service for those who had similar struggles. Jerry’s path to recovery, for him, meant that he joined a homegroup, found a sponsor, and worked through the 12-steps continuously. This process wasn’t easy for Jerry, as he struggled and worked hard to understand his addiction. While it was difficult, Jerry found beauty in the journey and would always say, “my suffering is holy.” While on this path, he met the love of his life, Shannon Byrum. His relationship with Shannon manifested itself in so many beautiful ways–their support for each other in their life in recovery, their service together in the 12-step fellowship, their marriage on that beautiful day in May, their union of families, which included Shannon’s daughter, Abby, and the birth of their little buddha, Castiel Strachan Campbell, on July 15, 2012.

Shannon and Jerry did everything together.

Jerry viewed these manifestations as serendipitous coupled with the fruits of his labor, and he didn’t want to squander this new life he created. Jerry threw himself into his step work and education. He went back to school, and after a lot of difficult nights laboring on homework, he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Near the end of Jerry’s life, he was doing what he loved most–counseling and helping people through therapy. He knew that this dream wouldn't have happened without his recovery and support from a group that understood and gave him so many opportunities for service. His love has, and continues to be, a bond encompassing his family and friends.

He is survived and missed by his wife, Shannon; his children, Gabrielle (Kip) Webster; Taylor Campbell; McKay (Micah) Campbell; Carter Campbell; Abigail Cox; and Castiel Campbell; grandchildren, Kaylee Campbell, Jane Webster, June Campbell, Evelyn Webster, and Theo Campbell; father, Jerry Campbell; sisters, Cyd (Michael) Palmer and Keli (Chris) Kesler, and many nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends. He is preceded in death by his sweet mother, Jean Page, his grandparents, and his friend and sponsor, Tom Catton.

Jerry received many gifts through his service and sponsors. One lasting gift from his sponsor was the saying and belief, “God is loving us now.”

We leave those words with you.

In lieu of flowers, Jerry’s family requests that you send donations to The Shannon Byrum Donation Fund at State Bank of Southern Utah or Shannon’s Venmo account.