On our Sunday night radio program, Rodger Thomas and I welcomed Rutherford County Commissioners Carl Boyd and Anthony Johnson to the WGNS studio. During our conversation, I asked Carl which street he grew up on in Smyrna. He replied, “Prindle Drive.” Anthony then mentioned that he had once lived on Prindle Drive as well—and I laughed as I added that I, too, had lived there at one time.
I went on to mention that Mrs. Betty Campbell, my accounting teacher at Smyrna High School, had also lived on Prindle Drive. Ironically, I asked Carl, “Is Mrs. Campbell still alive?” He said he thought she was, while Anthony believed she had passed away. I then remarked, “I wonder if she’s listening right now?” and instinctively made the sign of the cross—a gesture I hadn’t done since my late mother’s funeral at St. Luke’s Catholic Church.
When I got home later that night, I looked at my phone and saw a text from Trish Nash. It read, “Miss Campbell passed away today in a Franklin nursing home. All the arrangements will be at Woodfin.”
I’m not sure why these extreme coincidences—or synchronicities—happen in life. Is there a message in them, or perhaps the spirit of Betty Campbell letting folks know she’s okay?
Synchronicity is a term Dr. Carl Jung created to describe those wild “meaningful coincidences”—like thinking of someone you haven’t seen in years, then suddenly running into them.
Jung’s idea is simple: These aren’t random flukes or magic.They’re like hidden threads connecting your inner thoughts and feelings to real-world events, often surfacing when something big is stirring in your unconscious mind.
Mrs. Campbell will be greatly missed.She always had a smile on her face and let me know what was on her mind. She would always call us “her cherubs.” Now it’s her time to become the cherub, spreading her wings for her heavenly home.
“For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.” Ties beautifully to her calling students “cherubs” and now joining the heavenly host. Psalm 91:11
Funeral Arrangements
Betty Winters Campbell, age 90 of Smyrna, Tennessee died Sunday, March 8, 2026. She was a native of Lawrence County, Tennessee and was a daughter of the late Thomas Jefferson and Minnie Davidson Winters. She was also preceded in death by her husband, Charles E. Campbell; and siblings, Iva Hayes, Lorene Davis, Ruby Lay, Louie Winters, Alfred Winters, Joe Winters, J.W. Winters, and Thomas “Junior” Winters.
Survivors include her sister, Mary A. Burnett; nephew, Kevin T. Winters and wife Gina; nieces, Diane Patterson and husband Mike and Debbie Neese and husband David; special friends, Sherry Price and Melinda Russell; several other nieces, nephews, and a host of other loving family and friends.
Mrs. Campbell was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star and retired after a long career as a teacher at Smyrna High School.
Visitation with the Campbell family will be at Woodfin Chapel, Smyrna on Thursday, March 12, 2026, from 10:00 am until the time of funeral services beginning at 11:00 am. Burial will follow in Roselawn Memorial Gardens Cemetery with family and friends serving
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