Carney James Campion
November 3, 1928 – December 5, 2015
Carney Campion was born in Santa Rosa in 1928 and moved to Stockton as a young boy. He graduated from Stockton High School and went on to receive his degree in Personnel and Public Administration from the University of California, Berkeley in 1950.
Carney’s first job was with the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce. He soon moved to Eureka and became Managing Director of the Redwood Region Conservation Council, representing the redwood and lumber industries in California and Oregon.
It was in 1961 when Carney was appointed General Manager of the Redwood Empire Association (REA) which represented the nine northern coastal counties of California and Josephine County of Oregon. While at REA, noting that transportation was a major problem for the North Coast area, Campion worked closely with REA members such as Gordon Hadley, the California Department of Transportation and state and federal government for improvement of north coast highways, importantly the Redwood Highway 101 and the Michael J Burns freeway between Eureka and Arcatia.
In 1975, Carney became the District Secretary of the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District. In 1984 he was appointed General Manager, responsible for overseeing the Bridge operations as well as the Bus and Ferry Divisions. Campion was instrumental in creating another golden era of Ferries on the Bay as he presided over the christening of several of the district boats and the enjoyed the maiden voyage of the 5th High Speed Ferry, “MV Del North”.
He accomplished many successes while General Manager before retiring in 1998 after 23 years of service at the Bridge, including helping obtain Federal support for seismic retrofit of the Bridge, the successful re-decking of the Bridge, modernizations of transit and ferry service and facilities, and reorganization of the District’s management and operations structure. He also had the foresight to help acquire the Northwestern Pacific Railroad right-of -way, which represents the Northern San Francisco Bay area’s Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART), a passenger train, bicycle and pedestrian pathway. Carney was responsible for implementing the current electronic toll taking system as well as assuring the transit system became accessible to the elderly and handicapped.
His transportation, infrastructure and management knowledge and experience led to his appointment as Director of the International Bridge Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) representing the Golden Gate Bridge in conjunction with other transportation structures throughout the world. He was elected and served as President of IBTTA in 1996.
Carney’s life away from the Bridge was continually filled with joy and passion supporting the many activities of his six children. Through their dedication and commitment as competitive swimmers for Marin Swim Club and subsequently Marin Aquatic Club, he became President of the NorCal Division of AAU Swimming and was responsible for implementing Masters Swimming in Marin County. Based on his years of experience running top competitive swim meets, Campion represented AAU Swimming with trips to India and Kuwait to help train coaches and develop and advance competitive swimming programs for athletes in their countries.
There was never a dull moment at the Campion household and Carney was well known as a devoted and involved father, committing his time and efforts to the numerous activities of his six children: Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, swim practices and weekend swim meets, the fan at baseball games, supporting the kids love of surfing, soccer, basketball, water polo, skateboarding, Parish Youth Council, music and art lessons.
Once he six children were raised, Carney’s love of travel brought him and Kathryn to over 162 countries including all seven continents. He was also an avid stamp and coin collector.
After retiring from the Golden Gate Bridge, Carney continued to be a fixture in the local community and contribute to the county he loved so much. He served on the Marin County Cultural Services Commission for 18 years. He particularly loved working at the Marin County Fair each summer, organizing with the commission, greeting fair goers and announcing the fair’s daily events where he was affectionately known as “the Voice of the Fair”.
Carney passed peacefully at his Terra Linda home surrounded by his devoted wife of 63 years, Kathryn and his children. Carney’s spirit and love is carried on with his five sons, Carney Jr., Kelly, Kevin, Brian, Terry and his daughter, Maura, his Grandchildren, Owen, Shanna, Kendall, Logan, Kayla, Kenny, Jessie, Kelsea, Jasmine, Stella, CJ, and Jonathon, and Great-Grandchildren, Ainslee, Brandan, Shelbie, Rochelle, Tiffany, Stephanie, Zander, Hayden and Hunter. Service will be private. In lieu of flowers, Please make donations to St. Jude’s Children Hospital.