Vaughan, Campbell will be missed – and not just by the sport community

I read with some sadness over the past week or so news of the deaths of two valuable members of the Valley sport community.

Clarke Vaughan, who passed away Sept. 27, and Adrian Campbell, who died Oct. 3, probably had very little in common: Clarke was two months short of 70 at the time of his death; Adrian, a much-too-young 38, part of a whole different generation.

They likely didn’t know each other but, to me, they shared a bond: a love of sport.

I didn’t know Clarke Vaughan as a young man, but I’ve been told he was a talented and enthusiastic baseball player, hockey player, bowler and golfer. His favorite sport was golf, and many of his friends and acquaintances will remember him as the long-time course marshal at the Ken-Wo County Club.

However, the event that shaped the latter part of Clarke’s life occurred almost nine years ago, when a fall from a roof left him with a spinal injury, confined to a wheelchair. Faced with a situation that would have broken many people, Clarke, in the words of the old saying, took the lemons and made lemonade. With the help of some of his friends, who organized an annual golf tournament to help with the expenses associated with his change in lifestyle, he had his home remodeled and then purchased - and taught himself to operate - a motorized wheelchair. Clarke could be seen motoring his way from his home in Gaspereau to New Minas to shop, visit the golf course or pass the time with friends. In colder months, he had a wheelchair-accessible van.

Good friends of Clarke’s have told me they were truly amazed at his positive attitude in the face of his injury, and they considered him - and the way he coped and lived his life since his accident - an inspiration. As a friend, and as a valued part of our community, he will be missed.

Adrian Campbell was a lawyer by profession and, from all accounts, a good one. His hobby – and his passion, along with his wife and three sons – was running and fitness.

Adrian was a world-class duoathlete – an athletic discipline that combines running and cycling, two-thirds of the sport of triathlon. This made him part of two distinct, though related, athletic communities, both of which admired him and will miss him.

He also ran marathons, including our own Valley Harvest Marathon. While death at Adrian’s relatively young age is always tragic, it is somehow fitting his passing occurred just days before the running of this year’s race, which a number of participants will no doubt run in his memory.

Adrian wasn’t usually one to blow his own horn in publicizing his athletic accomplishments, but he was a great proponent of fitness and encouraged others, usually by his own example, to follow a more healthy lifestyle.

Adrian’s obituary stated he “sought excellence throughout his life,” both in work and in sport; “valued tradition and lived a life of integrity.” For those who knew him, it’s hard to disagree, just as it’s hard not to admire such qualities.

In that, from what I knew of both men, he was a lot like Clarke Vaughan: they were both men who had many friends because they were easy to like, made friends easily and valued friendships.