Note: Several inaccuracies in the original version of this article have since been corrected.
Former Bellevue city councilmember and mayor Nan Campbell died Monday night at Overlake Medical Center as a result of injuries she sustained in the Nov. 5 Hampton Greens Apartments complex fire that destroyed one building on the 4500 block of 148th Avenue Northeast.
Campbell, 87, was one of seven people rushed to the hospital that morning after an explosion and fire broke out in one of the multi-family residential buildings. She reportedly fell while exiting her apartment and broke her pelvis, later developing pneumonia in the hospital, however, the official cause of death is not yet known. The fire is now under criminal investigation with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms assisting the Bellevue Police Department.
The first female mayor of Bellevue, Campbell served in that position from 1988-89 and before that she served as a city councilmember for two terms. She remained active in her community and also its politics, endorsing Lynne Robinson and Steve Kasner in this year’s city council election.
“She not only endorsed me; Nan met with me, frequently called me on the phone, emailed me and liked me on Facebook!,” said Robinson in a statement. “She believed in community roots, and networked tirelessly on my behalf. … Nan was, up until her accident, still advocating for the Crossroads Triangle to the Bellevue City Council, and was following the council meetings on her TV. She remained informed, sharp, and passionate about Bellevue. Nan was a gift to our community who had a lot more to give. We are all devastated by her loss.”
Bellevue Councilmember John Stokes said he was shocked to hear about Campbell’s death. He remembers first sitting down with Campbell after winning his election to council and talking about city issues at one of her favorite spots in the Crossroads neighborhood.
“She had stacks of papers and, boy, she really knew all this stuff,” he said. “… She wasn’t just single-focused on things. She had a good grasp of the whole scope of things that the city can do and the council can do.”
Stokes said the city council plans to honor her memory and civic service at its Monday City Council meeting.
After her time on the council, Campbell joined the Youth Eastside Services’s board of directors and recommended Patti Skelton-McGougan for the nonprofit’s executive director position. They’d met while Campbell was serving on the council and Skelton-McGougan was working for the city.
“I owe her a lot for what she’s done for the community and also me personally,” said Skelton-McGougan, adding of the former board member, “All of us at YES! are truly going to miss her, and our thoughts are with her family. .. She had a way about her, about getting things done in such an amazing way.”
