Obituary of Cheryl A. Campbell

Cheryl A. Campbell, of Linden Hall, died Saturday, Aug. 21, 2010, at Mount Nittany Medical Center.

She was the daughter of Arnold R. McMinn, of Springfield, and the late Helen Dadderio McMinn. She was married to Richard L. Campbell, who survives. She is also survived by two sons, Darren Campbell and his wife, Sierra, and their children, Izabella and Maverick, who reside in Ashland, Ore., and Drew Campbell, who resides in Lake Tahoe, Calif.

Cheryl was born in West Grove and attended Penncrest High School in Media. In her senior year in high school, she won the Junior Miss Pennsylvania pageant and finished second in the national pageant in New Orleans to Diane Sawyer. In 1962, she attended Penn State University on an academic scholarship during which time she was a cheerleader, Miss Penn State and valedictorian of her class. She graduated with a degree in elementary education. Following graduation from college, she taught fourth grade in Park Forest Village for a number of years. After that, she assisted in the marketing of a software program for real estate property management and lectured frequently throughout the country at the expense of IBM. Subsequently, she joined Pennsylvania Financial Group as a financial planner and obtained licenses as a certified financial planner, certified life underwriter and stock broker. She retired from that occupation approximately 15 years ago.

Cheryl's passion was cooking. She cooked with Grace Pilato and attended many classes and demonstrations, including those with as well as Jacque Pepin in New York and George Perrier in Philadelphia. While vacationing in Germany, she befriended Johan Langer, the most popular chef in Germany, who later invited her to the German Embassy to spend a weekend at a culinary event with other famous chefs from throughout the world. She was invited to assist in preparing one of her favorite dishes. While dining out, she would often seek out the chef and request the opportunity to visit the kitchen and see the operations behind the scenes.

Visitation will be from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 23, 2010, at Koch Funeral Home, 2401 S. Atherton St., State College. A Celebration of Life for Cheryl will be held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Centre County Community Foundation, P.O. Box 648, State College, PA 16804; or to the Centre County Youth Services Bureau, 410 S. Fraser St., State College, PA 16801. Both organizations had been established by her father-in-law, R. Paul Campbell, former Judge of Centre County.