Douglas Campbell III, age 72, passed away on September 2, 2025, at his home in Stamford with his wife and kids at his side after a courageous four-year battle with ALS. He went peacefully thanks to an abundance of love and support from family and friends, and because he was able to watch the University of Michigan football team win its first game of the season a few days prior.
The son of the late Douglas Campbell Jr. and Elizabeth MacColl Campbell, Doug was born on March 6, 1953, in Detroit, and grew up in Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich. He graduated from The Hotchkiss School in 1971 and received a B.A. from the University of New Hampshire in 1975. After a stint at the U.S. State Department, he received an M.B.A. from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business in 1980.
In 1972, Doug met Gwynne (MacColl) Campbell in Portland, Oreg., and in 1978 they got engaged in Italy. They married on Cape Cod a year later and relocated to Darien, where together they opened the first Sylvan Learning Center on the East Coast, providing tutoring and test prep for 36 years.
In 1995, Doug founded The Success Coach to help CEOs and their teams reach business goals. Simultaneously, he taught M.B.A. classes for almost two decades at Sacred Heart University and Fairfield University and ran monthly “High Talent Creatives” networking meetings until 2014. In 2019, he helped launch and co-hosted the Stamford Ferguson Library’s Entrepreneur in Residence Program.
He served on many local boards, including the Darien Chamber of Commerce, Darien Men’s Association, Darien Land Trust and Connecticut’s Angel Investment Forum. In recognition of his service to The Hotchkiss Fund, Doug received the school’s Armitage Award in 2023. He wrote books titled Where To Go From Here: Reinventing Your Business and Your Career and The 16-28 Solution: Unleash the Passions of Your Youth. He co-authored Major Issues of the Law of the Sea with his professor at University of New Hampshire after graduating from there.
Doug was most proud of the family that his wife and he raised. He is survived by son Colin and wife Tara Craft and their two daughters, Alma and Chloe, and his daughter Caroline and husband Robert Dickie and their two sons, Brooks and Miller. Doug cherished his grandchildren and loved playing tickle monster and games with them.
Doug loved coaching Colin and Caroline on their youth ice hockey, baseball and softball teams. A lifelong golfer, fisher, biker, ice skater and swimmer, Doug loved being active and supporting his teams. He spent many summers hiking in Michigan’s upper peninsula and continued to enjoy the outdoors at the family house in Matunuck, R.I.
Doug was a member of Noroton Presbyterian Church where he served on the missions board and co-founded a multi-denominational men’s bible study group, now in its 18th year. Doug also helped establish micro lending initiatives in Ecuador and El Salvador. He enjoyed his many trips abroad, visiting all continents except Antarctica.
In early 2022, Doug was diagnosed with ALS and vowed to fight the terminal illness with positivity, science, humor and diligence, inspiring his family, friends and business community until the very end.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to ALS United Connecticut (4 Oxford Road, Suite E4, Milford, CT 06460, www.alsunitedct.org) or the Darien Land Trust (5 Brook St., Darien, CT 06820, https://darienlandtrust.org).
