Obituary of Leah Fay Campion

Leah Fay (Van Note) Campion, age 77, of Trumbull, CT passed away on October 13, 2015 after a long and courageous battle with cancer. She was born in Philadelphia, PA to the late William Grandin and Laura (Schanck) Van Note of Colts Neck, NJ. Leah was a descendant of the early Dutch settlers in New Amsterdam and Monmouth County, NJ. She grew up in Wanamassa and Colts Neck, NJ. She graduated from Red Bank High School where she sang in The Choraliers, played clarinet and trombone in the high school's marching and concert bands. Leah went to Rider College, Trenton, NJ and completed an Associate in Arts Degree–Medical Secretarial in 1958. While there she was a member of Sigma Iota Chi Sorority and in the Mayfair Queen Court in 1957. It was at Rider where she met her future husband, Joseph E. Campion, who she married in 1958 at the Colts Neck Reformed Church. She and her beloved husband Joe would have been married 57 years on October 18th. His heart is broken as not only did he lose his wife, but his best friend, and the love of his life. They had not been apart a full day since he retired in 1999. They lived in Old Bridge and Princeton Junction, NJ before moving to Westport, CT in 1979. She worked at the Westport Public Library for a number of years before retiring and moving to Trumbull, CT in 2000 to care for her grandchildren. Leah was an avid reader and loved all types of music from Rachmaninoff and Puccini to the rock groups Aerosmith and Def Leppard. She was a huge hockey fan of the NHL and loved to watch all the teams play, but none more than her beloved New York Rangers. Leah loved her husband and family and was devoted to them, as her greatest joy was her family. Being a wife, a mother, a grandmother, was all she ever wanted to be and she was wonderful at it. She was our best friend and we were hers. Our beautiful mother was the "Cool Mom" and we loved it; her grandchildren and even their friends called her Nanny. She was as sassy as she was funny; her grandchildren noting right up until the end "keep on being sassy Nanny". Leah would start conversations with strangers and talk about her children and grandchildren wherever she went, because she loved to share stories about her family because that was the kind of caring and compassionate woman she was. She didn't have a selfish bone in her body; she was a giver and a nurturer to her husband, children and grandchildren all of her life. She would sacrifice anything for her family. She was predeceased by her parents and her brother, William Grandin Van Note, Jr. She is survived by her husband Joseph Campion of Trumbull, CT, a son, Thomas Campion of Hendersonville, NC, her daughters Laurie Campion Miller and husband Jason of Akron, OH, Lisa Campion Ruderman and husband Charles of Trumbull, CT, her grandchildren, Danielle Ruderman, Tyler Ruderman, Nicholas Taylor, Joseph Taylor and fiancé Nikki Cennamo, all of Trumbull, CT, and their father James Taylor of Surfside Beach, SC. She is survived by her brother, Frank P. Van Note II of Colts Neck, NJ, her sisters-in-law, Linda Campion of Clifton Park, NY and Emilie Van Note Spendiff of Manahawkin, NJ. She is also survived by nieces, nephews, cousins, great nieces and nephews. A service to reflect and celebrate Leah's life will take place on Friday, October 16, 2015 at 12:00 p.m. in the Abriola Parkview Funeral Home, 419 White Plains Rd., Trumbull. Friends and relatives may greet the family on Friday morning from 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. The burial will be private. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to St. Vincent's Swim Across The Sound, 2800 Main Street, Bridgeport, CT 06606 or The American Cancer Society, 38 Richards Ave., Norwalk, CT 06854.