Businessman honored for his dedication to airport success

Kenny Campbell tugged at a black cloth covering a sign as his family stepped up to help. As the cloth slid away, a crowd cheered.

The sign read, “N. Kenneth Campbell Field” – a tribute to Campbell’s years of passion and persistence at the Troy Municipal Airport.

“As a mayor, you have good moments and bad moments,” recalled former Troy mayor, Jimmy Lunsford, at a Tuesday ceremony honoring Campbell. “I remember getting the call that the airport’s [fixed-based operator] packed up and moved in the middle of the night. That’s not a good feeling for a young mayor.”

But Lunsford said Campbell stepped up and took over operations there.

“We’ve come from the drag strip to the finest general aviation airport in the country,” Lunsford remarked.

Lunsford recounted some of Campbell’s many accomplishments at the airport, including helping to pull two men out of a burning airplane owned by the Dallas Cowboys in 2001, as well as securing an important relationship between the military and airport.

“That is just the kind of man he is,” Lunsford said.

Campbell and the Troy Municipal Airport were also instrumental in attracting industry, including CGI, to Troy, according to Lunsford.

Campbell was also recognized as a family man during the ceremony with one of his granddaughters helping Mayor Jason Reeves lead the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance and another helping Reeves snip the ribbon tied around the new Campbell Field sign.

“Aviation has always been a big part of my life, both professionally as well as personally,” Campbell said.

“I have been able to meet some of the best and most amazing people in the world, and some of them are here today.

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.”

The Troy City Council voted on Tuesday to rename the field in Campbell’s honor, as well as the road leading to the field. It will be called Campbell Field Way.