D'Alessandro: Milt Campbell's legacy celebrated in Plainfield

She was a teenager without a home, because the relationship with her mom was abusive and irreconcilable. Mona Hudson was an 80-pound ragamuffin who had lost all hope – even two months from high school graduation – when a friend had a brainstorm.

"Let’s talk to my dad," Julee Campbell told her. "He’ll figure it out."

Milt Campbell’s solution was to have Mona move in. He and his wife Barbara already had four of their own, but it didn’t matter. Mona joined the family on April 18, 1978.

Her arrival was followed in short order by Dorianne Taylor, then by Pam Macklin. Today, the three invaders – all accomplished professionals – call themselves the adopted daughters of Milt Campbell.

"I still ask myself, what kind of man does this?" said Mona, nowadays a Realtor in California. "What Mr. Campbell and Barbara did for me is just kindness at an extreme level. People tend to be skeptical and look for the worst in people. But Mr. Campbell always looked out for the best – he pulled it out of you, even if you were hard and bitter like I was – and give you the inspiration to move forward."

That’s why Milt Campbell’s real story isn’t about hurdles and high jumps and javelin throws. In a memorial service in a sunny auditorium Saturday — in the city he loved like a nurturing father — we were reminded that it was his humanity that made this man a giant.

He was the greatest athlete New Jersey ever produced when he died last November at his home in Gainesville, Ga., but his athletic achievements – the Olympic gold in Melbourne, the Olympic silver in Helsinki, the half-dozen Halls of Fame, the NFL/CFL career – almost felt like a secondary matter to the friends and family assembled at Emerson Elementary school in Plainfield.

Certainly, sports made him a legend. But if you were lucky enough to know him, you already knew him as a man imbued with an uncommon stoutness — in mind, body and spirit; a man who reached so far and made it, and then made it his life’s work to inspire others to do the same.

The two-hour program, expertly emceed by Plainfield product and ’84 Olympian John Marshall, included he requisite slide shows and videos, even the official USOC film from the decathlon competition from Melbourne in ’56 that was narrated by Campbell himself.

The kids in the audience stared at the screen with bemused awe, recognizing there was greatness in the room, as they watched this sculpted streak of a man wearing bib No. 294 wipe out the competition like nobody has before or since.

Charlie Pratt was there, as wide-eyed as any of them. "Milt made me a champion," said Pratt, the Manhattan College legend and 1957 NCAA champion from Palmyra. "I won the nationals because he built me from the ground up."

There was also a video tribute from Dan O’Brien, who broke the 20-year losing streak that the U.S. had in the race for decathlon gold by winning the top prize in Atlanta in 1996.

As it turns out, that couldn’t have happened without Campbell, he says.

"His influence had a profound effect on my entire life," O’Brien explained.

"Milt Campbell had more to do with my success than anyone. The things I learned from him weren’t about throwing the javelin or going over the hurdles faster. He worked on every other area in my life, and that was preparing me to be a champion. He told me, ‘You’re not going to win the gold until you get your mind right.’ It wasn’t until I failed in ’92 that I understood what he meant.

"So he not only taught me to be a great athlete, he taught me how to be a great mentor."

That was really the central theme. Dick Malgran, the former Plainfield councilman and lifelong friend, put it this way: "The nature of Milt’s character transcended his accomplishments on the playing field."

Dr. James Mack, the Monmouth University professor who was instrumental in getting Campbell recognized with a doctorate of public service in 2008, reminded everyone of his efforts to quell the Plainfield and Newark riots.

"He made it known that fighting was not the answer, that education was," Mack said. "That is why he should be celebrated not merely as a world-class athlete, but as a world-class citizen."

In other words, he never hesitated to assert the values he learned and share a passionate commitment to truth, a passionate concern for justice, and a passionate belief in the ability of all people – no matter how fit or fortunate – to arise to whatever level their talent could take them, in whatever field.

"That’s what I hope people took away from this today," said Julee, Milt’s eldest daughter, who works in group homes in Long Beach, Calif.. "Milt Campbell wasn’t just about the Olympic decathlon. There was a reason he produced an entire family of social workers: It was about serving others, wherever you saw a need. My dad was a great humanitarian."

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.