Laurel Hill Mayor Ferrin Campbell Jr. dies

Laurel Hill Mayor Ferrin Campbell Jr. was found deceased in his home by a relative Wednesday afternoon.

“I don’t know what to say,” Laurel Hill City Clerk Harold Jones said. “I am just shocked by his death.”

Few details were available about Campbell’s death Wednesday evening.

Jones said he heard second hand from Laurel Hill Fire Chief Jeff Sory that Campbell was found deceased lying on his couch.

“I don’t know of any history of a heart condition,” Jones said. “He seemed to feel good. He never complained to me about chest pains. He seemed to be in good health.”

Campbell, who was elected to the mayor’s post in April 2009, also served as an Okaloosa County commissioner from 1988 to 1992.

Campbell is descended from a long line of Campbells to call Laurel Hill home and the family has been active in politics for generations. Campbell was the great-grandson of Ernest Campbell, Laurel Hill’s first mayor.

“He was a great boss and he loved Laurel Hill,” Jones said. “He’d always say, ‘We do this because we love our little city.’ You certainly don’t become mayor of Laurel Hill for the pay.”

When first elected as mayor, Ferrin Campbell Jr. said his main priority would be to address the city’s ailing finances and crumbling roads.

“The main issue is survival during this financial crisis,” Campbell said in an interview with the News Bulletin shortly after his election to the mayor’s post. “It will be a struggle to stay afloat. The biggest need in Laurel Hill is infrastructure. I could give every citizen a shovel and two tons of asphalt and put them to work for two years.”

Campbell’s age at the time of the March 2009 interview was listed as 59.

Jones described Campbell as a “jovial man” who always took the time to say hello to people no matter where he was.

When Earl Campbell Road washed out last December, cutting some Laurel Hill residents off from their homes, Ferrin Campbell let his neighbors cut across his pasture to gain access to and from State Road 85.

It has been a tough year for the Campbell family. Ferrin Campbell Jr. was the father of Geri Jones, who died of cancer last December. Geri Jones, a former administrative assistant for Crestview City Clerk Janice Young, was Harold Jones' daughter-in-law.