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Deborah Campbell was an archaeologist who injected a sense of adventure into everything she did, including her job with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“She was a true Indiana Jones,” said her wife, Vicki Galzerano, 54, of Lower Burrell. “The ringtone on my phone for her was the Indiana Jones theme music.”

“She liked to get out there and play in the dirt,” said longtime friend Maria Scott-Bollman, 56, of Bedford.

Deborah Lynn Campbell of Lower Burrell, formerly of Jeannette, died Monday, Feb. 6, 2017, after a six-year battle with breast cancer. She was 56.

Born March 21, 1960, in Wilkinsburg, she was a daughter of the late William J. and Anne L. Oberley Campbell. She was a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, earning a master's degree in archaeology.

She spent part of her career in New Jersey and on active digs in the field. More recently, she was chief of planning for the Army Corps of Engineers, Pittsburgh District, where she was involved with locks and dams on the Ohio River.

One time, Mrs. Campbell was called to examine a construction site in West Virginia where Native American remains were discovered. “She was dedicated to preserving the remains,” Galzerano said.

Galzerano and Mrs. Campbell were together for 10 years and got married in Allegheny County in 2014, the year same-sex marriage became legal in Pennsylvania.

“It was a very big moment for us to be able to get married and to have the same rights as heterosexual couples,” she said.

The 2015 Supreme Court decision Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 states, was another milestone for the couple.

“She had a smile a mile wide (when the decision was announced),” Galzerano said. “She was super happy. … She was always passionate about her rights.”

Scott-Bollman met Mrs. Campbell while the two were college students — Mrs. Campbell at Pitt and Scott-Bollman at Seton Hill University in Greensburg.

“She was this amazing combination of intelligence and a sense of wonder at the world,” Scott-Bollman said. “She was intelligent but not stuffy about it.”

When Mrs. Campbell was diagnosed with breast cancer, doctors said she didn't have long to live — that all they could do was buy her time, Scott-Bollman said. But she lived her life to the fullest regardless.

“She bought time for five years. In that time, she advanced her career, bought a house, traveled and married the love of her life. Deb really lived every day she was alive — and she did it with joy,” Scott-Bollman said. “I think she was with us as long as she was because she was busy really living. I think it's one in a million who really can do it.”

In addition to her wife, Mrs. Campbell is survived by her paternal grandmother, Gale Mullen Campbell of Crafton; two sisters, Coleen Bluman of Crafton, and Christine Covin of Jeannette; and brother, Thomas Campbell of North Versailles.

A celebration of her life will be held Feb. 18 at the Lauri Ann West Community Center, 1220 Powers Run Road, O'Hara Township, starting with a luncheon at noon and a memorial service at 3 p.m. Arrangements are being handled by Coleman-Taylor Funeral Services, Cecil.

Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society, Alle-Kiski Relay for Life, c/o Donna Zukas, P.O. Box 4, Apollo, PA 15613.

Stephen Huba is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-850-1280 or shuba@tribweb.com.

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