Ben Earl Campbell was a classmate and very close friend of Roger Payne and his family. In February of 1942 Roger mentioned Ben’s recent marriage in a long letter he wrote before going into the Army.
Three short weeks after Roger was mentioning Ben in his letter, he was serving as a pallbearer at Ben’s funeral. Tragically, at the age of 20 and only three months after his marriage, Ben was killed in a horrible car accident. He was buried in the Campbell Cemetery near the intersection of Bear Creek and Lone Mountain Roads.
Ben’s young wife, Priscilla Lewallen Campbell, gave birth to their son, Ben, Jr., the following November. A few years later, she married William Paul Kilday, who raised Ben as if he were his own. Priscilla and Paul also had two daughters.
Ben, Jr. died in 2015 at the age of 72, leaving his widow, Joyce, four children and ten grandchildren.
