Joseph B. Campbell; State Judge Presided in San Bernardino
Joseph B. Campbell, presiding judge of the 4th District Court of Appeal based in San Bernardino, has died. He was 65.
Campbell, who lived in Victorville, died Friday at St. Mary’s Desert Valley Hospital in Apple Valley after a long bout with cancer.
The judge had served on the appellate bench since 1986 and had been a judge of the San Bernardino County Superior Court from 1972 until his appellate appointment.
He frequently amused his colleagues by reciting poems about how judges should behave on the bench. A favorite admonition began, “Don’t go to sleep, don’t go to sleep! Do not go to sleep, do not go to sleep! Do not go back to sleep. . . .”
While operating a law office in Victorville, Campbell also served from 1962 to 1972 as a Victorville city councilman and was chosen by the council to be mayor for three terms.
Campbell is survived by his wife, Donna, three sons, four grandchildren, a sister and a niece.
Services are scheduled for 10 a.m. today at Kemper Campbell Ranch in Victorville, with interment in Victor Valley Memorial Park.
The family has asked that memorial contributions be made to the Oro Grande Foundation, St. Mary’s Desert Hospital or Desert Hospice in Victorville.
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