Mayor, ‘ultimate statesman,’ dies at 69

‘Skip’ Campbell sealed political comeback as Coral Springs leader

Civic leaders, family members and fellow politicians are remembering Coral Springs Mayor Walter “Skip” Cambell, a “monumental warrior for justice,” who died Tuesday night.

Campbell was 69. He died at the hospital about 9 p.m., family members said.

A staunch Democrat, Campbell was a state senator from 1996 to 2006, when term limits forced

him out of office. He was well-regarded in the Republican-dominated Legislature.

When he ran for the mayor’s seat in Coral Springs, it was his political comeback.

“I’m an Irishman. Politics is in our blood,” Campbell told the South Florida Sun Sentinel at the time.

Campbell became mayor of Coral Springs in November 2014 and was re-elected in November 2016.

Campbell, a hobbyist pilot, lived in the city for 36 years.

“He was the ultimate statesman,” said Coral Springs Commissioner Larry Vignola. “When people were upset, he always found a nice way to help find compromise. It’s a big loss for the city. It’s a tough day in the city of Coral Springs.”

In a statement Wednesday morning, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, called Campbell a “giant” of justice and public service.

“He was my seatmate in the Florida Senate and was quick-witted, fun-loving, and always ready to reach across the aisle or bridge a divide to solve problems,” Wasserman Schultz said.

Campbell was born in Rockaway Beach, N.Y. He graduated from the University of Florida in 1970 and its law school in 1973. He has been president of the Broward County Bar Association, president of the Broward County Young Lawyers Association and president of the Federal Bar Association of Broward County.

Campbell co-founded the law firm Krupnick & Campbell in 1975. It is now known as Krupnick Campbell Malone Buser Slama Hancock Liberman.

In a statement Wednesday, his law firm called him a “a monumental warrior for justice in our community, state and country.”

“Skip made an indelible mark on this world and leaves it far better off than he found it,” the law firm said.

And he had plans: Angry about the 17 people killed in six minutes at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentine’s Day, Campbell planned to circulate petitions to put an assault weapon ban on the 2020 ballot if neither the state’s Constitution Revision Commission nor the Legislature responds adequately by then.

“We’re going to win this thing,” he said in February.

Campbell was home Tuesday when he had a “sudden cardiac event” and was rushed to the hospital by city paramedics, according to officials.

He had been home recovering from hip replacement surgery, and was fielding phone calls Tuesday from city staff as well as newspaper reporters. His family suspects it may have been an embolism, given that his death happened about two weeks after the surgery.

City officials are expecting to have a special election for his seat in the spring, but details were not finalized Wednesday.

The mayor’s seat is for two years, and Campbell was elected automatically without opposition for another term that was supposed to start in November.

“The city of Coral Springs lost a great mayor and an even better man,” said John “J.J.” Hearn, the city’s attorney. “He truly was just a nice guy.”

Campbell is survived by his wife, Lynn, and two children, son Daniel and daughter Christina, and three grandchildren, Alex, Aaron and Leo.

His sister, Maureen Campbell, of Coral Springs, said he was “the most kind, generous, thoughtful, intelligent human beings I’ve ever met in my life, he always fought for the underdog.”

The wake is scheduled for 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday at Coral Springs City Hall.

The funeral is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church, 1401 Coral Ridge Drive.

Instead of flowers, the family requests donations be sent to Community Foundation of Broward, 910 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, FL. 33301, earmarked for the Muriel T. Campbell Memorial Fund. The fund, which Skip Campbell set up after his mother died, benefits local charities.

Campbell