The death of Spence Campbell is another reminder of how important our mission is to record, preserve and share the history of Northwest Divers and the evolution of diving for recreation, science, ecology, public safety and commercial. Fortunately, we have a lot of documentation on the diving life and contributions to diving science and education from Spence Campbell. Spence has chronicled much of his diving life in his two books; (1) Lewis & Clark and Me, and (2) After the Swim.
We continue to receive stories from people that were impacted by Spence’s training and mentoring. Spence had a way about him that motivated people to accept a greater challenge and achieve more than ever expected.
Spence had an adventurous and productive life. In 1954, while serving in the Air Force and stationed at McChord Base in Tacoma, he got some scuba gear and went diving, without the benefit of training. He soon got involved with the Air Force divers in the search & rescue team. After his discharge from the Air Force, he attended the Coastal School of Deep Sea Diving in Oakland, California.
Spence worked for a commercial diving company on several dams in Washington, Idaho and Montana with a heavy Mark V helmet. He was also teaching scuba diving and soon was recruited by the fledging NAUI Association and certified as NAUI Member A-20. This was when Spence learned that he loved teaching and had a passion for diving physiology research.
Spence was a mentor to many students in diving and aviation. Over the years I’ve met many of Spence’s protégés, and we all have the same respect and gratitude for the efforts that he made to push us up the ladder. Spence loved a challenge, and he loved to challenge others. He had a “you can do it” attitude that has guided many people to achieve much more than they could ever imagine.
Fortunately, we have a lot of documentation on the diving life and contributions to diving science and education from Spence Campbell. Spence has chronicled much of his diving life in his two books; (1) Lewis & Clark and Me, and (2) After the Swim. We have video interviews on our web site – www.divinghistory.org – and we’ve received many stories from people that were impacted by Spence’s training and mentoring. These stories will be added to our web site.
Memories from Rick Kaiser-
I am saddened to hear the news of another great NW diver taking their final descent. I can only hope that Ann and Spence and Jim Willoughby are all sitting together somewhere in the diving after-world drinking beers, laughing, and telling sea stories. That thought gives me comfort.
I met Spence at my first ITC, which I did not pass. It was not because I was a bad diver. I was actually a pretty darn good diver (and think I still am). I just didn’t know how to TEACH diving… After the course was over, I asked Spence if I could assist with his Bellevue Community College diving program to learn the skills of how to teach diving. I know of no diving instructor who has turned down free help, so he let me tag along. That was the start of many years working with him on many different projects and teaching SCUBA diving on a much deeper level than you’d experience in the typical dive store classes. He worked our butts off, and in return I learned from him and the other instructors the unique skills involved in how to teach people to become safe and confident divers. Teaching for me is a skill that really started with Spence Campbell, but it has grown with me as I taught SCUBA classes in Bellevue, Oceanography classes at the University of Washington, Intertidal Marine Ecology classes at Whatcom Community College, computer programming classes at Sehome High School, and Super Cool Science School classes at Silver Beach Elementary School. It is said that teaching for some people is a “calling”. And so it is with me. I really should have been a teacher instead of an engineer. But without the leadership and guidance of Spence Campbell, I never would have known about my love of teaching and how it can profoundly change the lives of so many people.
I shall drink a beer in his honor and wish him Godspeed on his next great adventure.
Spence,
Here’s wishing you the best of luck on all the dives you make. May your drysuit always keep you dry and your finstraps never break. May your diving days be many and the weather always fair. And may your buddy never panic when he’s running out of air. But should that day confront us when things aren’t like I said, Then I say “The hell with diving. Let’s drink some beer instead…” – Rick Kaiser
Memories from Tom Hemphill
Spence was an extraordinary man, a great friend and mentor. I met Spence in 1971 when he was my team leader at my NAUI Scuba Instructor Training Course at Seattle University. We had a dozen people on our team. Spence took us under his fatherly wings and taught us how to teach diving. Most of us thought we were already pretty good. Spence changed our minds the first day and we all realized that we really had a lot to learn.
There were 48 candidates that enrolled in this course. By mid-week the candidate count was down to about 35 candidates, and not all of those passed. However, the Green Team had a lot of success, thanks to Spence.
Spence had a way of teaching diving physics and physiology to common people so that they could understand how divers were affected by the gasses and pressures underwater. I recall using his simple method of teaching carbon monoxide poisoning in a class a couple of years after I was certified as a NAUI Instructor when I had a couple of medical doctors in my class. As I was doing my drawing on the board and going through my lesson, I noticed one of the doctors passing a note to the other doc. The second doctor made a note and passed it back with a little nod of his head. I could feel myself getting hot and worried that I had made a big mistake. After the class, on our way to the pool, I stopped the doctors and asked if I had made a mistake when teaching the CO lesson. The doctor laughed and said, “No mistake, but that was the first time that I really understood CO poisoning.” Wow – thanks Spence.
In 1983, Spence called me and invited me to come to The Ocean Corporation in Houston, TX to discuss a new program that he and Larry Cushman were developing. Kirby Morgan Diving Systems International had developed a small, portable diver control system for shallow surface air supplied diving with communications. Larry and Spence wanted to create a training program for this new system. This opened up a whole new opportunity for me that led to many teaching adventures for the next 20 years.
In 2010 at the NAUI 50 year birthday celebration in Portland, Spence became a founding member of the Northwest Diving History Association. Spence hosted several meetings at his aviation training facility at Boeing Field and gave several presentations featuring his adventures over the years.
Spence and I maintained a great friendship for more than 50 years. He was my friend and mentor. I was able to speak with him just before Christmas and tell him that I loved him. It was clear then that he may not recover.
Laurie Hannula was able to talk with Spence a few times while he was in the hospital. They were very close friends for many years. Laurie told me that Spence did not expect to live much longer.
Spence's oldest son Ron was with him at the hospital each day for several weeks and his younger son Scot was with him at the end. It's tough for the boys and we have them in our prayers.
