Howell P. Campbell
Year Inducted: 2017
Birthday: February 10, 1888
Died: March 13, 1953
City/Town: Concord, NH
The late Howell P. Campbell left a legacy at St. Paul’s School, where he played, captained and coached the hockey team, and remained on the academic staff until his death in 1953.
Born at the school in 1888, Campbell skated for the school’s Isthmian (first) team from 1905-07 and the varsity team as a senior in 1906-07, playing the “cover-point” position. He captained both teams his senior year, when one of the teammates on the varsity was the legendary Hobey Baker, a forward, who would go on to captain that team the following year.
Baker, whose name graces the top individual award in college hockey, went on to star in hockey and football at Princeton, and later enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Service. He died in December 1918 after a plane he was test-piloting crashed, shortly before he was scheduled to leave France and return to
America.
“Howell’s daughter, my mother, recalls dinner table conversations of Howell’s admiration for Hobey’s skill on the ice, and his overall excitement
to have played with such talent,” said Campbell’s grandson, Bob Diefendorf.
Campbell is listed as a coach/manager for the St. Paul’s first team in 1917-18, before joining the Army and leaving for World War I himself, being
involved in the final three months of the campaign. After returning from World War I, he coached the first team at St. Paul’s for 17 years on and off beginning in 1919-20. He stepped down from that position permanently in 1941 but remained assistant director of studies at the school until he passed away in 1953 at the age of 65.
In all, Campbell spent eight years (1899-1907) at the school as a student, and 46 years there as part of the faculty (1907-53).
The Howell P. Campbell Hockey Award is presented annually to the boy who, throughout the school year, has contributed the most to the spirit and traditions of St. Paul’s hockey.
