Pauline Benedict Campbell

December 9, 1919 - January 24, 2025

Pauline "Polly" Benedict Campbell, aged 105, passed away peacefully on January 24, 2025, in Montgomery Village, MD. Born on December 9, 1919, in Waterbury, CT, to Helen and Paul Benedict, Polly lived a remarkable life marked by intelligence, resilience and a deep love for family and learning.

Growing up in a bilingual German-English household during the Great Depression, Polly learned early the values of hard work and resourcefulness. She excelled academically, skipping a grade to study alongside her older sister, Charlotte. She later proved her tenacity by winning a statewide typing contest at Post College, establishing herself as the fastest typist in Connecticut.

Polly was the first in her family to attend college, earning a scholarship to the University of Pennsylvania, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa in just two and a half years. She continued her studies at the University of Michigan, where she met Malcolm Campbell. They married in 1946 and settled in Norristown, PA, where they raised three children: Bruce, Ellen, and Scot.

A lifelong educator, Polly was deeply passionate about teaching. She began her career at Kimberton Farms School and later taught at Germantown Friends School before spending the remainder of her career at Radnor High School, where she taught economics, history, and psychology. Beyond the classroom, she tutored Chinese scholars in English and traveled extensively, forging meaningful connections across the world.

In her retirement, Polly moved to Maryland to be near her daughter Ellen and son-in-law, Mike Cooper, where she played an integral role in raising her grandchildren, Ben, Amy, Kim, and Megan. She remained actively engaged in traveling, gardening, crafting, and politics, leading book clubs and staying in touch with loved ones through letters and emails well into her 90s. Even in her later years, she remained fiercely independent, taking public transportation to meetings and events at the Rockville Senior Center, River Road UU Congregation, and the UURC, continuing to be a vibrant presence in the community.

She is survived by her children, Ellen (Mike) Cooper and Scot (Melanie) Campbell, as well as twelve grandchildren and fourteen (and counting), great-grandchildren, who will forever cherish her wisdom, warmth, and wit. She was preceded in death by her beloved son Bruce (Sulin) Campbell, her sister Charlotte, and her parents.

A Celebration of Life service will take place at 3 pm on Saturday, April 26th, 2025 at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Rockville. In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests that donations be made to the Carter Center whose mission exemplifies Polly’s values and life’s work. 

A life spanning more than a century, Polly witnessed incredible changes in the world, yet her love and devotion to those she held dear never wavered. She will be deeply missed and forever remembered by those fortunate enough to have known her.