Sister of Mercy Elizabeth (Betty) Campbell, known for her lifelong insistence on and advocacy for the dignity and human rights of every person, died in San Antonio, Texas on January 18, 2026.  Her death was sudden, the result of a brain hemorrhage.  She was 91 years of age, a woman of faith committed as a Sister of Mercy for 70 years to the service of the poor. Day after day, she lived her chosen motto: My God and My All.

Born in Wisconsin and raised in Iowa, Sister Betty was the youngest of William and Caroline [O'Neil] Campbell's 13 children.  Influenced by two brothers who were doctors, she decided to become a nurse. In 1955 Betty entered the Sisters of Mercy, took her lifelong vows in 1961, and served briefly in two Mercy hospitals in the U.S. before accepting a call (1962) to missionary work in Peru.

Director of nursing and hospital administrator at Madres de la Misericordia in Sicuani, Peru, Sister Betty not only offered her professional skills and compassionate care but also listened and learned from the people she'd come to help. Theirs was a dignity and a culture that called her to new perspectives about missionary work.

It was in Peru that Sister Betty met Father Peter Hinde, a Carmelite priest from the U.S. who was also sensing new possibilities for missionary service. Attending to the wisdom of their indigenous neighbors, these two missioners became lifetime companions and partners in what they called "reverse mission." It was a title that meant not Americans arriving to teach indigenous people, but rather indigenous people teaching Americans how U.S. policies and interventions were impacting their lives.

Over the years, "reverse mission" found Sister Betty and Father Peter traveling extensively throughout Latin America, gathering information, and returning to the U.S. to advocate for those nations and peoples they'd visited. In 1973, their work also led to the creation of Casa Tabor, a community of persons committed to justice and compassion for the poor and oppressed.  Welcoming Latin American exiles and refugees and expanding advocacy work, Casa Tabor moved from its origin in Washington, D.C. to San Antonio, TX in the mid-1980s and again in 1995 to Cd. Juarez on the Mexican border.

After Father Peter died in 2020, Sister Betty continued her decades' long ministry focused largely on two key concerns: work at the border with immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers, and education and empowerment programs with women.  In both, she was living out two of the formally adopted Critical Concerns of the Sisters of Mercy: solidarity with immigrants and refugees in seeking a more just and inclusive world, and attention to women's education, health, and spirituality.

Approachable, lively, prayerful, and always interested in each person she encountered, Sister Betty lived the Gospel of Jesus Christ in many ways.  Though well known in the communities she served, her daily life was one of simple companionship. She welcomed visitors wanting to learn about the realities at the border.  She emailed widely, urging others to advocate for those suffering abuse.  She painted murals and kept a litany of persons violently killed or "disappeared."  And through it all she prayed – treasuring the Eucharist, cherishing the rosary, and daily gathering with others to read Scripture and reflect on God's word.

Sister Betty is survived by a loving host of nieces and nephews, great-nieces and nephews, by her Sisters in the Mercy Community, by her companions in Casa Tabor, and by her many neighbors and friends. May she be rejoicing now in the presence of the God she so loved and served.

MEMORIAL SERVICE

Saturday, January 24, 2026

Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 9:00 a.m.

Holy Redeemer Catholic Church

1819 Nevada Street, San Antonio, TX

Service will be livestreamed via

https://www.facebook.com/holyredeemer1901

Repast afterward in parish hall. Please bring a covered dish or something to share.

In honor of Sister Betty's commitment to the environment,

you are asked to bring your own dish, cup, utensils, and a cloth napkin for your use.

Beverages will be supplied.

MEMORIAL CONTRIBUTIONS

In lieu of flowers, donations are welcome to CRISPAZ.

Online at https://www.crispaz.org/make-a-gift/

Or cheques to CRISPAZ at 808 Brookhill Rd., Louisville, KY 40223, USA.

On cheque memo line write Sr. Betty Campbell.

Donations can be made via www.columban.org. Indicate that the Donation is for:
Columban Migrant Ministry in Juarez
Or
Checks may be mailed to
Fr. Bill Morton, SSC
Columban Mission Center,
816 Magoffin Ave
El Paso TX 79901
Indicate that the Donation is for:
Columban Migrant Ministry in Juarez