Volunteer of the Month – Bobbie Campbell

Bobbie Campbell was born in Indianapolis. She attended Shortridge High School and then Indiana University – Bloomington, majoring in radio and television and minoring in creative writing. After marriage to Tom Campbell, they moved to San Diego where he served in the Navy while Bobbie worked in public affairs at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. She has always worked in corporate and media relations.

Volunteering is a tradition in her family, with her grandparents and mother setting the bar high for being active participants in the community. Bobbie’s mother, Dorothy Linke, brought Bobbie on board at Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana (today Indiana Landmarks) in 1997 where Dorothy taught the class for giving downtown tours. Bobbie soon realized she liked talking about Indianapolis and Indiana history. Along with volunteering at Indiana Landmarks, she has also been a docent at the Indianapolis Museum of Art (now Newfields). Giving tours is the focus of her volunteering and that requires research, for which she has a passion.

Following in the footsteps of her mother, Bobbie was drawn to Crown Hill in 1999 to expand her growing interest in local history. Having given Indiana Landmark tours, she already had a good background on the notables at Crown Hill. She appreciates Crown Hill for the wonderful opportunity it provides for sharing history with young people and groups of adults. Bobbie is a firm believer that “a generation which ignores history has no past and no future.” (Robert Heinlein)

Bobbie takes her commitment seriously to make our guests aware of the rich heritage found among the notables buried at Crown Hill. Sharing their stories is what she enjoys most about giving tours. Getting to walk the amazing grounds is a bonus.

Bobbie is also willing to share her knowledge with new docents. She has helped our Director of Education and Engagement create our training program for new docents, gives practice tours to the “newbies,” and is always willing to help staff with events and field trips.