Coach, Georgia Tech athlete put integrity, his family first

If you ask Norman Campbell’s family where his nickname “Pig” came from, they tell you of an old Atlanta Journal newspaper photo that captured him as a widemouthed young’un being fed, and a caption that read: “This little pig can’t wait for his next bite.”

If you asked his Georgia Tech football buddies, it had a different origin: “He played right guard,” Claude Petty, a lifelong friend, said. “And he got his name Pig from the way he would dig down and get in the dirt and get after it as a football player.”

However he got the nickname, Pig Campbell was a presence that will be missed. Norman “Pig” Campbell, born June 12, 1931, died Dec. 15 at his home in Marietta.

“Pig Campbell came from very humble beginnings,” his daughter Connie Zessack said in her eulogy. Growing up in a modest household on the south side of Atlanta, Campbell and his family experienced hardships from job insecurity to financial instability. “But from the day that my dad’s baby picture was in the AJC with the caption, ‘little pig,’ Pig Campbell put his family on his back and climbed up the ladder of success,” she said.

Tracey Prinzbach, Campbell’s other daughter, said while most people wouldn’t want to be called Pig, her father loved it. Most people, she said, didn’t even know his real name was Norman.

Campbell was a gifted athlete who played football and baseball in Atlanta’s recreation leagues. He later played baseball and football at Georgia Tech, and met Petty, one of his lifelong friends.

Petty and Campbell worked together to help recruit some of the high school football players who were on the 1952 Georgia Tech team, the year they were national champions. Petty said his friend was a leader and highly respected. “Norman had a reputation of being a guy who could do it all,” he said.

Campbell’s college athletic career ended with his knees blown out, and just like the little pig who couldn’t wait for his next bite, neither could he wait for his next adventure. He joined the Army and served his country in the Korean War. His paychecks went to his mother to support his family.

After his time in the military, Campbell came home and got involved with the family painting business. His mother told him that his father needed his help, and he did so without flinching. Now, many in the commercial painting industry in Atlanta know of Campbell Decorating Company.

“Over the 40 years he ran the business,” Zessack said, “he supported not only his family, but his father, his brothers, and for years his sister worked for the business as well.” During tough times, Zessack said, she always remembered her father’s integrity and him taking the high road to make sure his employees were taken care of.

In those times, she said, “There was no bailout for the hard times, just guts and perseverance.”

Campbell was an involved father who, with some prompting from his wife, coached his girls and others in sports. He never missed a game. He thought “girls were just as important as boys in sports,” and he coached girls softball teams that were champions of the park many times.

The love story of Campbell and his wife, Polly, was “legendary,” Zessack said in the eulogy. “From repairing her flat tire on the side of the road in Florida, to a marriage and kids, my dad truly loved my mom above all,” she said.

He is survived by three daughters and their spouses: Nanette and James Williamson, Connie and Ron Zessack and Tracey and Paul Prinzbach. A Celebration of Life Service will be 11 a.m. today at H.M. Patterson & Sons Chapel in Marietta. In lieu of flowers, the family asked people to consider donating to the charity of their choice.

Norman ’Pig’ Campbell loved his nickname.