Deacon Al Anderson remembers the first time he walked into Dorothea Campbell’s house after Sunday Mass. “It was loud, it was crowded, it was noisy and it was wonderful,” he said. “There was a lot of good conversation, a lot of joking going on, a lot of good food. She made everybody feel at home.”
Dorothea has been a beloved member of St. Joseph Church in Alexandria for decades, and at 100, she’s now the oldest parishioner. Though some days she’s able to be more talkative and present than others, “she’s the mother of the church,” said her son, Lynnwood Jr. The grandmother of seven and great-grandmother of two celebrated during a Zoom party with more than 50 people and at a smaller gathering at the retirement home where she lives. “She continues to be a blessing,” said Deacon Anderson.
Dorothea was born June 20, 1923 in the Alexandria house that her grandfather built. Her grandmother was a freed Alexandria slave. Her parents, Dorothy and Louis Bentley, had eight children. She grew up in the segregated city and graduated from Parker-Gray High School, an African American school that only went to 11th grade at the time. She then attended cosmetology school in Washington and ran her own beauty shop for 67 years.
After World War II, she met Lynnwood Campbell, who had returned from fighting in the Pacific as part of the Montford Point Marines, the first all-Black Marine unit. They were married civilly in 1946 and later had their marriage convalidated at St. Joseph. Lynnwood Sr. worked for Amtrak and the couple raised four children: Wilma, Lynnwood Jr., Bernard and Zachary Moore. Moore, a neighbor, was adopted by the family after his mother died of asthma when he was three months old, though his biological father stayed in contact with him as well. Lynnwood Sr. died in 1983.
Their children all went to Catholic school. “As kids, everywhere we went we had those Catholic uniforms on, so everybody knew us, we had to be good,” said Lynnwood. “There was no internet back then but if we did something wrong, boy, the news was back at the house before we got home.”
They attended the now-closed St. Joseph School, but before Lynnwood could complete his schooling, they closed the eighth grade. He spent his final year of middle school as the first Black student of what is now the Basilica School of St. Mary in Alexandria.
Their mother encouraged them to do their best in everything, said Lynnwood. “When you get out of here and do something, either do it right or stay home,” he recalls her saying. “If you’re going to be there, go and make a difference.”
Dorothea was involved in all kinds of ministries and activities at St. Joseph until illness prevented her from volunteering, said Lynnwood. She hosted brunch after Mass, and no one went home hungry. “Every time somebody died, she would cook a turkey and a ham and call me up and make me slice it and put it on a pretty platter and take it up to the church,” he said. “The parish used to have a big dance every year called the Cotton Ball and she was always part of the Cotton Ball committee.”
Deacon Anderson remembers the support she and the rest of the parish gave him as he went through diaconate formation. Her great-granddaughter was the first person he baptized. “She was one of the first people to encourage me to apply for the diaconate,” he said. “I think she may have seen something in me that I didn’t see in myself at the time.”
Before that, some 30 years ago, she welcomed Deacon Anderson and his wife, Beverly, into the parish. “When you come to St. Joseph, you become part of the family, and Miss Dorothea and some of the other church ladies really embraced us,” he said. “She is such an amazing lady.”
