Neil MacDougall Campbell

Neil MacDougall Campbell, age 89, died peacefully on February 11, 2026 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Neil was a cherished husband, father, grandfather, and friend who will be deeply missed. He is survived by his wife Sheila, sons Duncan and Alistair, daughters in law Bobbie Jo and Alison, grandchildren Andrew, Anne, Alice, Emma and Neil and sister Catherine.

Neil was born on May 28, 1936 in the village of Taynuilt, Scotland the fourth child of Colin and Jessie Campbell. Neil’s childhood was spent in rural Scotland with his siblings Duncan, Sarah (Sally) and Catherine. Although he grew up in Wartime and Austerity Britain, the stories of his Scottish upbringing with which he would regale his grandchildren in later years mainly involved country dances and the antics of the villagers.

After completing National Service with the Royal Artillery in 1956, he moved to Calgary, Alberta where he worked in the oil patch and attended Mount Royal College (now Mount Royal University). Neil then moved to Texas where he lived with his brother Duncan while he obtained his B.Sc. in Economics from Trinity University, San Antonio (1964). Despite being made an honorary Texan by Governor John Connally, Neil returned to Canada and continued his studies in Economics obtaining his MSc. from the University of Alberta (1966) and his Ph. D. from the University of Waterloo (1972).

Neil met his bride, Sheila, in Edmonton while she was visiting a friend from the United Kingdom. She was a schoolteacher. They were married in 1965 and had two children Duncan (1968) and Alistair (1970).

After obtaining his Ph. D., the focus of Neil’s career was developmental economics. He and Sheila moved to Ottawa where he commenced working for the federal government in the Department of Regional Economic Expansion and later the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). His time at CIDA launched his lengthy career in international development working for the United Nations Development Program, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund. His many international assignments involved sojourns in Botswana, Swaziland (now Eswatini), Somalia, Burma (now Myanmar), Bahrain, Malawi, The Gambia, Croatia, Vietnam, Yemen, Tanzania, Sudan and other countries. Sheila joined him on many of these missions, teaching at local schools.

Neil’s stays in these locales were not free from incident. He had a knack of timing his assignments with episodes of civil or military unrest. His assignment in Burma was cut short by the 8888 Uprising and the subsequent junta-imposed martial law. His time in The Gambia was interrupted by a military coup, where Neil was carjacked at gunpoint by armed soldiers. His period in Bahrain, meanwhile, was interrupted by Operation Desert Storm. There were also assorted attempted coups, mercenary airplane hijackings, terrorist attacks and riots during his assignments.

Family and friends were at the centre of Neil’s life. He remained extraordinarily close to his siblings despite living on different continents. While he was living in Calgary, he would regularly drive 18 hours to Blackduck, MN. to visit his brother. He also kept up active correspondence with his nieces and nephews. Neil also corresponded for years with the many friends made on his international assignments over the years. Neil also travelled to his home village of Taynuilt with his grandchildren in 2019 and 2024.

Neil was a man of intense energy and strength. In his final years, he engaged in a protracted battle with multiple forms of cancer before finally succumbing to brain and lung cancer. He will be deeply missed by his wife, Sheila, and his surviving family.