Patrick J. Campbell

Who was Patrick J. Campbell?

Patrick J. Campbell was a carpenter and an American labor leader. He was president of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America from November 1, 1982 to February 1988.

Campbell was born in 1918 in New York City to Peter and Mary Campbell. His father was a city mass transit employee. He attended public schools. After graduation, he apprenticed as a carpenter.

He married Catherine Keane in May 1940. The couple had two sons and a daughter.

He served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, rising to the rank of staff sergeant and seeing combat action in the Pacific theater.

After the war, he moved to Rockland County, New York, and joined Carpenters Local 964. He was elected president of the local in 1954.

In 1955, he was hired by the international union as an organizer. In 1957, the international promoted him to staff representative, and he serviced contracts in Rockland and three nearby counties.

In 1966, he was appointed assistant to the president of the Carpenters, Maurice Hutcheson, and elected a vice president of the union.

He was elected to the general executive board of the 1st District of the Carpenters in 1969, and resigned his position as local president the same year.