Remembering Noel Campbell (1941-2026) – David Stringer, Publisher

With the death of former LD1 State Representative Noel Campbell, on Saturday, January 24^th, Arizona has lost a statesman. Yavapai County has lost a major political figure. And I have lost the friend of a lifetime. I had the honor of serving with Noel in the 53^nd and 54^th sessions of the Arizona State Legislature. We were not just friends of political convenience but genuine friends. Noel had a lot to do with my winning a close election to the Arizona House in 2016. The next term, in the face of controversy, he helped me win re-election. He never wavered as a supporter and defender. In the general election of 2018, we both ended up top vote getters for seats in the state legislature.

Photo: Swearing-in in 2017  

Noel died following injuries from a tragic motorcycle accident on I-10 in Chandler. He had just started on a long-planned bike trip to Baja California. He was an experienced biker and loved the open road. Inexplicably, on Tuesday, January 20^th, he lost control of his bike and ran into the back of another vehicle. His injuries were critical. By the time his wife, Mary Beth, could get to the Phoenix hospital a few hours later, Noel was on a respirator. He never regained consciousness.

We had gotten together for drinks the Friday before he left. He was in excellent good spirits and looking forward to his adventure. At the age of 84, he was strong and appeared to be in remarkably good health. As a young man he had gone to school in Mexico to learn Spanish and fell in love with the food and culture and people of the country. He was particularly fond of the coastal city of Mazatlán where he had honeymooned with Mary Beth. He had reserved a couple of weeks in a local language school to refresh his Spanish. But another reason for the trip was to get some time to himself for deep thought about a possible return to political work.

Noel served three terms in the legislature, 2015-2021, the last two as Chairman of the Transportation Committee. In 2020 he could easily have won another term but he chose not to run. There has been speculation in the media that Noel’s decision was related to marital problems. I’m skeptical of that. Noel and Mary Beth may not have had a perfect marriage. They were both strong willed, complex personalities. But they were also soulmates and devoted to each other. They always patched things up and remained together.

Noel was a successful legislator who accomplished important things for the district, often with Mary Beth’s help. He was lauded for sponsoring legislation to clean up the sober living home problem in Prescott. He won increased funding for transportation projects and was a key player in the push for the widening of I-17. In the summer of 2017, he Chaired an Ad Hoc Committee, with yours truly as Vice Chair, and Mary Beth providing research assistance, to investigate needed reforms to PSPRS—the underfunded pension program for law enforcement and fire fighters.  Among his colleagues in the legislature, Noel was respected as a serious, hardworking legislator who did his homework.

Noel had an outgoing personality and a talent for political work. In his hometown of Prescott he was always civically engaged. He and Mary Beth played important roles in the election of Mayors Harry Oberg, Phil Goode, and Cathey Rusing, and District 1 County Supervisor Brooks Compton. After leaving the legislature in 2021, he began to miss the action and saw issues where he could make a difference. In the months before he passed he was considering a run for the state senate in 2026. I was privileged to be a sounding board as he considered the pros and cons. He hadn’t made up his mind yet. But he was giving it serious consideration and beginning to meet quietly with political associates to map out the kind of campaign he wanted to run. His untimely death leaves a void in Yavapai County politics.

In the legislature, Noel was my senior and a mentor in every way. We both entered politics late in our careers. Noel was 73 when he was first sworn in to the state legislature in 2015. I was 68 when he helped me win a seat in 2016. We had different priorities. And that was a good thing. We didn’t step on each other. Noel’s specialty was transportation and infrastructure. My interests were in expanding school choice and making changes to Arizona’s costly and overly harsh criminal justice system. Noel’s background was in law enforcement. He did not share my interest in criminal justice reform. But he respected what I was trying to do and tried to protect me from the inevitable pushback as best he could.

One of the best examples of this was the vote on the removal of Rep. Don Shooter. Shooter was accused of making crude remarks to colleagues that some considered a form of sexual harassment. I agreed that Shooter’s locker room humor was inappropriate but thought removal an overly harsh penalty for a representative who had otherwise served honorably. Shooter had apologized. A lesser penalty would have served the purpose. When I voted No on removal, Noel immediately jumped up and joined me. He knew it was a controversial vote and didn’t want me to stand alone. Shooter was removed on a vote of 57 to 3, with every Member of the legislature voting for removal except me, Noel and Shooter himself. We were threatened with reprisals but they never came to pass.

Like everyone in politics, Noel Campbell had both a public persona and a private one. He was a natural on the campaign trail and genuinely enjoyed the public side of political work. But he had a studious, thoughtful side as well. He spent several hours a day reading widely.  As the Publisher of Prescott eNews, keeping up with the news of the day is part of my job. Noel was as well informed on current affairs as anyone I know. His insights were sharp. He read three papers a day including the Wall Street Journal and the Capitol Times. He also found time for serious literature. He was especially strong in history, political philosophy and even theology and biblical archaeology.

We shared Catholic backgrounds. As a youngster Noel grew up in Phoenix and attended St Mary’s Catholic School. As an adult he didn’t attend Mass regularly. But he retained a deep interest in religion. I once mentioned that I was a member of Opus Dei and a devotee of the Latin Mass. I was stunned at how much Noel knew about Catholicism and the finer points of church doctrine. Biblical archaeology was another of his interests and he knew the Bible well. We spent many evenings over drinks on the front porch of his lovely old Victorian home in Prescott discussing religion and the great imponderables.

Noel grew up in very modest circumstances in downtown Phoenix, raised by a single mother, who struggled to pay parochial school tuition. He helped with the family expenses with his paper route money. He ended up having a remarkable career—actually several careers. He was a military pilot in the Vietnam War, flying Hueys off aircraft carriers. He later worked drug interdiction with the US Customs Service and flew for the Forest Service fighting fires in Alaska. He loved adventure and traveled all over the world. Colin Campbell remembers his dad as an Indiana Jones type figure who took his son on motorcycle adventures all over the country. When Noel left the legislature, he continued to fly his own plane. Last summer he spent a month in Alaska camping in his RV.

Noel was a hardworking legislator. But he also enjoyed the social side of politics. After a long day at the legislature, he liked to go out for a drink and often dragged me along. I can still hear him cajoling, “David, you need to get out more and see more people.”  His favorite haunt was Durants, once a high dollar steakhouse and watering hole for celebrities and politicians on Central Avenue, not far from where he grew up. He once told me how as a youngster, he would ride by Durants on his paper route, imagining the high life, but never thinking he would one day be an insider himself. It took awhile. But fast forward sixty years and there he was, sitting at the bar sipping martinis, with lawmakers and lobbyists drifting by to shake his hand. It was a milieu he loved. He wanted it.  And he got it.

So long old friend.  Requiescat In Pace (RIP)