Bernard Christopher Campbell was born December 25, 1916, on a farm in Stockton, Missouri. He was a lifelong resident of Missouri after graduating from high school at the age of 16 and teaching in a one room school. Dr. Campbell and his wife, Sarah, moved to Lee’s Summit in 1941 where he was hired as a history teacher for the Lee’s Summit High School. At that time married women were not allowed to teach school, so Sarah taught music lessons and was the Methodist Church organist.

Within two years after moving to Lee’s Summit, Bernard went from being high school teacher to high school principal to superintendent of schools. His predecessors had been called up for World War II duty. Dr. Campbell served as a superintendent in Lee’s Summit for 37 years and retired in 1980. When he became superintendent, the district had about 600 students. Dr. Campbell guided it through a consolidation and saw the district grow to about 7000 students at the time he retired. As of 2023, the district has about 18,000 students.

His legacy—cemented partly by two district buildings and a scholarship program that bear his name—was built on community involvement he fostered and the support he received for 14 successful bond elections during his tenure.

The Bernard C. Campbell Junior High School and the Bernard C. Campbell Performing Arts Center are named after him.

He was a past president of the Missouri Association of School Administrators, served on the board of trustees of Mid-Continent Public Library, the Lee’s Summit Hospital Foundation, the Lee’s Summit Chamber of Commerce, and the Lee’s Summit United Methodist Church. Bernard pre-deceased his wife, Sarah, of nearly 65 years, by two and one-half months in 2006.

Lee’s Summit and the R7 School District meant everything to them. Bernard and his wife Sarah, in a wheelchair due to MS, attended many sporting events and school functions even after retiring. They were proud of what the community had become.