Last week saw the passing of Tom Campbell, the longtime manager of Munn Ice Arena at Michigan State University. He was a genuinely good man who was always happy to see you, and who always had a smile and a kind word.
I first met Tommy in 1994, when I played in the adult Sunday night league at Munn my first year at MSU. I used to line up against him at wing sometimes, his team usually getting the better of mine by a large margin. He was smiling then, too, as he said hello.
I recall how he was supposed to accompany Spartan Hockey to the College Hockey Showcase at the now-demolished St. Paul Civic Center in Minnesota in Nov. 1994, but had to remain in East Lansing to take care of a problem that developed with the ice at Munn. It was his baby, and there was no one better to handle it.
I saw Tom intermittently after I moved to Grand Rapids, Mich. in 1996, usually while attending games at MSU in my spare time. I saw him only once more (at Munn, of course) after leaving Michigan for good in 2000, when I last visited in 2007, and got to talk with him in his office, which blended invisibly into the walls on the main concourse at Munn. He told me the Sunday night league was unfortunately a thing of the past, but it was just good to see him again.
Tom was not only the caretaker of Munn, which has ice for all but one month a year, but he was the first player from the Greater Lansing Amateur Hockey Association to suit up for the Spartans, in the late 1960s under legendary head coach Amo Bessone. He later took over the management of Munn in 1985, after spending time working at the now-defunct Lansing Ice Arena and the MSU Physical Plant. He also played a large part in events such as the Cold War at Spartan Stadium in 2001, which launched the ongoing wave of outdoor hockey games in the 21st century.
My condolences to his wife, Kelly, and their daughter, Grace, on his passing. He will definitely be missed.
Rest in peace, Tommy, and say hi to Jerry Marshall and Coach Mason for us up there. Go Green.
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