Benjamin Campbell was, above all else, a selfless and kind person.
The 26-year-old Delaware native loved everybody, his father James said, and everybody loved him. He put his heart into everything he did, whether it was playing football in high school and college or graduating law school at the top of his class.
“He lit up the room,” James said.
Benjamin died Saturday night after striking a tree while riding a dirt bike in Pike Creek, according to the New Castle County Police Department.
“It’s gonna be hard to get past this one,” said Charlisa Edelin, Benjamin’s adviser at Wesley College.
Edelin met Benjamin during his freshman year. He’d enrolled in the college’s Law and Justice Studies program, where Edelin taught at the time. She felt an instant connection with him, and the two bonded over each being the first lawyers in their families.
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She knew what it was like to be entering a field that your family was proud of you for, but that they didn’t have the experience to help you with.
And James was proud of his son — proud of him for becoming an associate at Baird Mandalas Brockstedt & Federico practicing trust, estate and business planning; for his love for his family and soon-to-be wife; and for overcoming the obstacles that life threw at him.
Struggles overcome
Benjamin’s life was not always an easy one.
His mother was diagnosed with leukemia when he was 3 years old, and the family struggled to balance doctors’ visits and medical bills with the needs of four young children.
When Benjamin was 10, he and two of his siblings were sent to the Milton Hersey School in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The free, pre-K-through-12 coed home and school serves children from families of low income, limited resources and social needs.
The transition was hard for Benjamin, he told Delaware Online/The News Journal in 2014. Still, he dedicated himself to his grades and, later, football, pushing himself even harder after his mother died in 2011.
By the time his junior year rolled around, Benjamin was ready for a change. Jim felt he could once again take care of Benjamin at home, and he started 11th grade at Newark High School. He joined the football team and, after just three weeks as quarterback, he was elected as junior captain.
“I just want to make my family proud,” he told Delaware Online/The News Journal in 2014. “I want to make my mom proud. I pray every night that she looks down on me. I do my best in every game. I play for her.”
Benjamin wore custom cleats in her honor, with RIP MOM stamped on the heels.
His football career continued through his time at Wesley College, where he balanced practices with schoolwork and helping other students in the program. He studied day and night for the LSAT, Edelin said, and was accepted at Widener University-Delaware.
Edelin presented Benjamin with an award at graduation on behalf of the Law and Justice Studies program, and he was a runner-up for the school’s presidential award.
“You would be hard-pressed to find a nicer, kinder, smarter person,” Edelin said. “This is a huge loss for our entire community because he was going to do big things.”
A viewing will be hosted at St. John the Beloved in Milltown at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, followed by a Mass.
Reporter Brad Myers contributed.
Send story tips or ideas to Hannah Edelman at hedelman@delawareonline.com. For more reporting, follow them on Twitter at @h_edelman.
