John Herdan's biological father dies at 91

Stan,

For those of you who did or didn't know, I was adopted when I was only 5 days old. Twelve years ago I met my birth family. My mom and dad had gotten married to each other three years and one day after I was born. They had three more boys after me, two of whom live in Brainerd and one who is the Mayor of Sauk Rapids. My mom died in January of 2004. My dad died last Monday. Here is the front page story about my dad that appeared in the Brainerd Daily Dispatch last Wednesday.

John Herdan

Lowell fixture Campbell dies
Family founded Parkerville
By MATT ERICKSON
Staff Writer
F. Parker Campbell, a longtime volunteer at Lowell Elementary School whose family founded Parkerville, north of Brainerd, died Monday.
Campbell, 91, had lived in the Brainerd area all his life. In the 1940s, his uncle sold land in Parkerville on North Long Lake to the American Legion, which built Legionville, a training center for the school patrol.
For the past 21 years, Campbell volunteered as a morning greeter at Lowell Elementary School in northeast Brainerd. He started volunteering when his grandson, Berry, attended the school.
But Campbell did more than just greet people at Lowell's doors, school secretary Nancy Waller said. He would direct kids where to go, give candy bars to the school patrol and staffers, keep watch over the school at night and, on weekends from his house across the street, brush snow off cars - and one time paid to have the school's parking lot striped.
"He was such a big part of our family at Lowell," Waller said. "He was so wonderful. We're just really, really going to miss him."
Waller said that, for a time, Campbell moved into assisted living housing, but within three weeks, he moved back to his house across the street from Lowell because he missed the school too much.
In October 2000, Campbell was named volunteer of the month by Crow Wing County Volunteer Coordinators. At that time, he said he volunteered because, "When my oldest grandson was in fifth grade, he heard they needed hall monitors, so he asked me. I've been doing it for 11 years now. I still do it because I enjoy the children and the teachers."
When asked what his most rewarding volunteer experience was, he answered, "Coming in every morning."
On Tuesday, Lowell School Principal Todd Sauer called for a moment of silence at the school for Campbell. Sauer said he used the school's intercom system to explain to the children that Campbell had died."Without having him there, knowing of the loss and knowing it wasn't temporary, that was the hardest piece," Sauer said of entering the school Tuesday. "He had such a settling presence. He was a bright spot of everyone's day.
"Sauer said that although there was sadness at Lowell, everyone knew Campbell was where he wanted to be - with his wife, Bunnie, who died in 2004.
"But it's hard for us not having him here," Sauer said.
Campbell was involved in several organizations, including the Brainerd American Legion and Brainerd Elks clubs.