Joseph and Patrick Campo

 

Joseph Campo

Vincent “Joseph” Campo was born on October 24, 1987. Joseph was an athlete from a young age. He played T-ball and soccer growing up. Joseph thrived when it came to soccer. He played competitively for the Albion Hurricanes. His team traveled the country playing in soccer tournaments. While playing soccer, Joseph traveled to many places such as Florida, Colorado and California. His team competed in the San Diego Surf Cup where he played against a team ranked number four in the nation. When in Coco Beach, Florida, his team played against teams from England and Jamaica. When he attended Pearland High School, he played for the Varsity team  from his freshmen year through junior year. He also ran on the Varsity Cross Country and Track teams at Pearland where he set many records. His best 1600m time was 4:12 and 1:57.5 in the 800 m. Running was Joseph’s passion and the reason he did not play soccer his senior year. He believed that he could run at a collegiate level, which he did when he walked-on to the Texas Tech Cross Country Team. Joseph was a determined and competitive athlete. For training while in high school and college, he would run about 60 miles a week. In one high school track meet, his team needed everyone to perform their best to have a chance to win the meet. Joseph was running the 1600 m, 800 m and 4 x 400 relay. It came down to the last race of the meet for the team to get enough points to take the top spot. The last race was the 4 x 400 relay. The relay team got out to an early lead and then Joseph got the baton. As he ran his leg of the relay, he kept the lead all through the back stretch and during the last 100 m he felt his hamstring pull. Joseph knew what the race meant for his team, so he continued running handing the baton off to the anchor and then collapsed on the grass next to start/finish line. The 4 x 400 relay team finished the race first and the track team won the meet. An old teammate said, “You could always count on Joseph, whether it was giving absolutely everything he had for the team on the track or soccer field or being a valuable friend that never waivers. Luckily, I had both of those in Joseph Campo.”

After graduating from Pearland High School in 2006, Joseph attended Texas Tech University where he majored in Industrial Engineering. He met some of his best friends while attending Texas Tech. Joseph lived in an on campus dorm his freshmen year. One day during the spring semester of his freshmen year, his roommate came back to the room to find a dog. Joseph had decided that he wanted a dog so he went and got a dog. He named her Daisy. Daisy lived in the dorm for an entire week prior to bringing her home to Houston. Joseph made many memories while in college. He spent time at the gun range shooting skeet with buddies, frequented his favorite restaurants and attended many Tech Football games. Joseph was one of the thousands of fans who witnessed Texas Tech knock off the number one ranked Texas in November of 2008. Joseph and his friends rushed the field then he ran down Broadway giving everyone he passed high fives. Joseph graduated from Texas Tech University in August of 2010 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering. He loved Lubbock so much that he told his mom that if he did not already have a job in Houston, he would have stayed in Lubbock.

Joseph had a love for trucks. The first vehicle he picked out was a two door Chevy Silverado. From there, he bought himself bigger trucks. With each purchase, he would make modifications himself. He built  bumpers, added lift kits and installed a tuner. The last truck he had was his baby. He showed off the air-conditioned seats to anyone who got in his truck. The backseat had heated seats so Joseph liked to play tricks on his passengers by turning on the heat without them knowing.  Joseph dreamed big about Campo Sheet Metal’s future. He loved working and enjoyed watching project go from a bid to a completed job.

Patrick Campo

Patrick James Campo was born on March 4th, 1991. He was the life of every party and had an infectious laugh. Patrick had many talents. When he decided to find a new hobby, he took it on full-force. Patrick wanted to be just like David Beckham many times in his life. He would put extra hours into practicing soccer. Another time, Patrick wanted to be Tony Hawk, a professional skateboarder, so he bought himself the proper equipment and learned how to skate and do all sorts of tricks. One of Patrick’s biggest loves was music. He wanted to be able to write songs, sing and play guitar so he bought himself a guitar. Dan, his uncle who is a music minister, taught him simple chords and gave Patrick some picks, a capo and a strap. Later, Patrick would go back and teach Dan songs he had learned on his own. Patrick would attend open mic nights at a local bar in College Station to perform. When Patrick’s Grandpa, Vincent, passed away, he wrote a song about his “Paw Paw” and all grandpas. Patrick and his good friend, Nick, recorded this song, the video is below. Patrick enjoyed listening to music and going to concerts. He also collected band memorabilia such as guitar picks, drum sticks, and an abundance of hats, t-shirts and koozies. Patrick’s talent did not end there; he could cook! He could make anything taste good with a stick of butter and some Tony Chachere’s.

Patrick attended Pearland High School. While in high school, he played soccer for The Oilers. He was on the Varsity squad for 3 years. Patrick was also a member of the Oiler Army, a group of students who would tailgate and paint up for football games. You could find Patrick sporting shorts, a beanie and body paint no matter how cold it was outside. Patrick graduated from Pearland High School in 2009. Patrick spent his freshmen year of college at Texas Tech University. He found great academic success there maintaining a 4.0 GPA his entire freshmen year. While at Tech, Patrick loved Tech football. Mike Leach was the head coach at the time who had a love for pirates. This made Patrick have a love for pirates as well. His mom bought him a pirate flag that he proudly hung in his dorm room. After his freshman year at Tech, Patrick transferred to Texas A&M University thanks to the persuasion of his best friend since kindergarten. One summer while in College Station, Patrick worked for the athletic department. He mowed the grass of Kyle Field. Patrick would proudly tell others of his accomplishment of being one of the only people to ever drink a six-pack in Kyle Field. As a construction science major, Patrick would have to complete an internship. He received an offer from Baker Triangle, which he gladly accepted. Patrick excelled while interning there. Patrick graduated from Texas A&M University in August of 2013. While walking across stage, Patrick snapped a selfie with the President of the University. Patrick could not wait for his little brother, Stephen, to attend A&M. Patrick helped his mom move Stephen into his dorm. Lisa watched and laughed as Patrick and Stephen, two engineers, struggling to loft the bed in the dorm room. Patrick lived life to the fullest, always making others smile.

Joseph and Patrick

Both boys had a love for the outdoors. They spent time growing up playing with their Tonka trucks in their sandbox, running through the yard, and spending time at their family ranch. They learned how to hunt at a young age, deer hunting was first. On a deer hunt, Joseph shot a doe, tagged it and went back to the house to get Patrick and a truck to help him bring the doe back. While gone getting the truck, Stephen, his brother, and Sam, his father, took the deer and hid it in the barn. Joseph returned to the house in complete shock that the deer had gone missing even though he knew he killed it with a clean shot. The entire family searched for the missing doe. After hours of searching, Vincent, their grandfather, decided to bring the family back to the house and asked Joseph go plug the jeep in to charge over night. Joseph walked out of the barn bright red as he discovered the missing doe had been in the barn the entire time. The boys hunted many more deer on multiple hunting trips throughout their lives. Along with deer, the boys enjoyed stalking rams to find the best looking one. Duck hunting became a hobby during and after the college years for both boys, but Patrick had an extreme love for duck hunting. During duck season, Patrick could be found at a duck lease as soon as work was over on Friday. Joseph and Patrick took trips to Lubbock to hunt geese and duck, but also hunted locally on a regular basis. Along with deer, ram and duck hunting, the boys enjoyed hog hunting. On a hunting trip, the boys, along with a few other family members, bagged 13 hogs.

The boys learned how to shoot from their grandfather and father. Joseph could shoot a gun at an empty soda can and keep it floating in the air. Patrick was able to hit a clay and then fling the empty shot gun shell out of the gun and hit that too. Both boys were good shots; however, Patrick did admit to Joseph being the better one. Joseph picked up archery while in high school and found, with practice, he was a good shot. Soon after, Patrick joined in the archery. Patrick enjoyed bow hunting over rifle hunting so he convinced his younger sister to build her deer stand with windows that he could use to bow hunt. They spent time together shooting targets and achieving new goals. Joseph could hit the target with one arrow and split that same arrow with another. The love for hunting was very apparent with these two young men. Patrick wore his camouflage Crocs all the time and Joseph’s favorite jacket was his Drake hoodie. Each boy  had a Labrador Retriever for hunting;Joseph had Sadie and Patrick had Molly, though Molly had more intensive training. Molly would tag along with Patrick on duck hunts and when the hunt was over she would get a kolache as reward for her good work. Molly continues to hunt with Patrick’s hunting buddies and still gets her kolache after the hunt. Not only did the boys love to hunt, but also to fish. Joseph enjoyed deep sea fishing with his uncle while Patrick would fish ponds around Pearland. The outdoors were the lifestyle that Joseph and Patrick absolutely loved.

Joseph and Patrick loved their careers and time at Campo Sheet Metal. Both men had great ambitions for the shop’s future. They dreamed of a day, that when “custom metal shop” was mentioned, the only company that would come to mind was Campo Sheet Metal. Campo Sheet Metal was Joseph’s baby. He spent many hours working late nights, weekends and from home. Joseph was a project engineer until promoted to Vice President of Manufacturing. He would quote jobs, bid projects and draw the drawings that would be used for fabrication. Joseph truly cared about the employees at Campo Sheet Metal. When hot jobs were in the shop and a crew needed to work late, he would get them dinner. He even bought a giant 3 foot by 5 foot pizza at an auction so the employees could have a free lunch one day. Joseph built himself a good clientele thanks to his compassionate and friendly personality. He could talk to vendors and customers for periods of time about non-related work topics. One client said that she admired Joseph’s dedication to his work because he was emailing her during his vacation time. When a coworker would ask him what his plans were for the weekend, Joseph’s response was “work,” and when she would ask why, he said “Work is fun.” Joseph had big dreams for Campo. He dreamed of a day where Campo Sheet Metal could work around the clock. He wanted to start designing and building skids for the oil industry. Joseph’s big dream was to get his helicopter license and open a second shop near Beaumont and he would fly himself from location to location. Joseph loved what he did. He bought himself sound cancelling headphones; that way he would not be distracted by noises in the shop. You could put a computer with AutoCad and a stack of drawings in front of him and he would work until the stack was gone. Patrick was a project engineer at Campo Sheet Metal. He was learning about the machines in the shop, assisting on jobs, and managing the cutting tables. Patrick was beginning to learn how everything worked and was gaining knowledge about the capabilities Campo has to offer. Patrick was known for answering the question “How are you doing?” with “Oh, just living the dream!” He truly believed that he was living the dream because he had a steady job and the ability to hang out with his buddies and go hunting on weekends. Both boys were big pranksters, they would ask the new hires to bring the skyhooks. The boys would tell them to ask different people where they were stored and others would join in on the fun. Some would catch on rather quickly while others spent hours looking for the imaginary skyhooks.

Joseph and Patrick thoroughly enjoyed working, living, hunting and hanging out together. They could bicker with each other  at work, but at the end of the day go home and enjoy a beer together laughing about who knows what.

Joseph and Patrick were taken from us far too early. On their way home from a hunting trip in Lubbock in November of 2014, their truck hit a patch of ice, causing a tragic accident. The boys passed away doing something that they enjoyed doing. They were preceded in death by their grandfather, Vincent Campo. They were survived by their parents, Sammy and Lisa Campo, sister, Elizabeth, brother, Stephen, and  a host of family and friends. Their legacy lives on everyday at Campo Sheet Metal. Crosses were made at the shop and placed along the highway in Slaton, Texas, where the accident happened. To honor both boys, their hunting buddies hosted a duck hunt and cookout where relatives and close friends had the opportunity to hunt the same land the boys did. Texas Tech honored Joseph by flying the Texas Tech Academic Flag at half-staff on December 4th, 2014. Patrick’s name was on roll call at campus muster for Aggie Muster on April 21st, 2015.

Both boys grew up with parents who were both Aggie grads, so this made them little Aggies. They would hang the Aggie flag on the fence in the fall and knew not to bother mom if the game was on. They attended many Aggie games with their aunt growing up. After the games, the siblings would go around collecting the reusable plastic Aggie cups to bring home. It was almost like a competition to see who could bring the biggest stack home to mom. As Aggie children, they had been going to The Dixie Chicken, a local restaurant, since they were young. When Patrick attended A&M, it was one of his favorite places to go. Most of the staff knew him by name. A tradition at The Chicken is to carve your name into the walls, benches and tables with a pocketknife or key. After the tragedy, their family brought in the big tools to make a memorial for the boys whom they loved so much. Two hours later, “RIP Patrick and Joseph” was carved into the wall. Their younger brother and friends went back a week later to add the finishing touch of “Campo 11-16-14.” The carving can be seen at The Chicken and in the picture below.