{"id":116275,"date":"2023-05-23T10:27:24","date_gmt":"2023-05-23T14:27:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/riverheadnewsreview.timesreview.com\/?p=116275"},"modified":"2023-05-24T21:54:11","modified_gmt":"2023-05-25T01:54:11","slug":"remembering-beloved-town-hall-employee-verna-campbell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/riverheadnewsreview.timesreview.com\/2023\/05\/116275\/remembering-beloved-town-hall-employee-verna-campbell\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering beloved Town Hall employee Verna Campbell"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The beating heart of Riverhead Town Hall fell silent last week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Verna Campbell, one of the longest-serving and most colorful employees at Town Hall \u2014 who served seven supervisors across 37 years \u2014 was laid to rest Friday following a funeral at Community Baptist Church on Sound Avenue. She was 90 years old<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the late 1970s until her retirement at the end of 2014, Ms. Campbell was the Town Hall switchboard operator, greeting everyone who called or entered the building from her perch at a desk just inside the front door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs people walked in, she was the first person they saw and she just greeted everyone so warmly,\u201d said Town Clerk Diane Wilhelm, a close friend of Ms. Campbell. \u201cShe was the voice \u2014 because she was the switchboard operator \u2014 so she was the voice of Town Hall as well as the first introduction. If you came in often, you knew her well. And if it was your first time, she treated you like an old friend.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms. Campbell\u2019s daughter, Bonnie-Sue Luce, said the job was her mother\u2019s \u201copportunity to be with the pubic and represent the town. She loved every aspect of it with her whole heart. It was so much what she wanted to be; she wanted to be seen and heard. She loved Riverhead and she very much loved being a part of Town Hall.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Longtime Town Hall denizens loved her, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe was there the longest and she was this smiling person and she was happy and she could sing and she loved her church \u2014 and everything about her was just positive,\u201d said veteran Riverhead attorney Peter Danowski. \u201cYou don\u2019t say that about many people.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms. Wilhelm and several other local officials said that while Ms. Campbell treated everyone kindly, she had a special affection for Mr. Danowski, a former Riverhead town attorney. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh my gosh, she loved Peter,\u201d Ms. Wilhelm said. \u201cThey had known each other such a long time and Peter\u2019s really a great guy and she\u2019s just a joy so they just had that kind of chemistry. She adored him and he adored her. It was really sweet.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Danowski was modest, but honest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure it\u2019s unique to me,\u201d he said of Ms. Campbell\u2019s affection. But then said without prompting,\u00a0 \u201cI used to tell her when she\u2019d give me a hug and kiss, \u2018Verna, don\u2019t you get your lipstick on my collar or I\u2019m going to be in trouble when I get home.\u2019\u2009\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n