THE close knit community of Clogher in County Tyrone has been plunged into sadness this week following the unexpected death of a highly regarded cleric. 
Rev. Roy Campbell, Minister of Clogher and Glenhoy Presbyterian Churches, was found dead at the bottom of the stairs in his home on the Tullybroom Road on Monday morning. He was 47.
Rev. Campbell, whose death is not being treated as suspicious, is survived by his wife Tonya, who is disabled, his son Gresham and daughter Joanna, parents Bertie and Jean and siblings Hazel, Gillian and Hilary. 
His funeral takes place this afternoon (Thursday) at Corrick Presbyterian Church at 2pm, followed by interment at Droit Graveyard. 
A service of thanksgiving was held on Tuesday night at Clogher Presbyterian Church and was attended by many of Rev. Campbell’s congregation and his colleagues in the ministry. 
Rev. David Cupples of Enniskillen Presbyterian Church described Rev. Campbell as “a capable thinker, a fine preacher and a pastor who was devoted to the growth and spiritual welfare of his churches.”
“He had discussed with me plans for what promised to be a wonderful sabbatical this summer with a combination of attending lectures and walking the Appalachian Trail. He was committed to the on-going development of his thinking, his gifts and his ministry. 
“But all who knew him felt unbounded admiration for how he coped with the demands of ministry and the additional responsibilities at home due to Tonya’s disability,” he said.
Rev. Cupples said his colleague was a husband and father “of whom more was asked than most and he gave himself to this calling sacrificially and with profound trust in the grace of his heavenly Father.”
“He was the rock on which the family was built and was providing sound and visionary leadership in his congregations. A true man of God and a true servant to his family and flock. 
“His death leaves us stunned and asks from those affected most a very deep and submissive trust in the wisdom and providence of God,” he told The Impartial Reporter. 
Paying tribute, the clerk of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland’s Omagh Presbytery, Rev. Robert Herron said news of Rev. Campbell’s unexpected death has “left many of us who knew him with a deep sense of shock.”
“We give thanks to God for his faithful service in ministry and pray for Tonya, the children and Roy’s wider family circle, that they would know God’s grace, compassion, comfort and strength at this sad time,” he said.
Rev. Campbell was licensed in his home congregation of Badoney and Corrick Presbyterian in 2004. He undertook his assistantship in Terrace Row Presbyterian Church and was ordained and installed in Clogher and Glenhoy Presbyterian Churches in 2006, which was his first charge as a Minister. He was also chairman of the board of governors at Fivemiletown College.
The Church of Ireland Bishop of Clogher, the Right Revd John McDowell, also extended his own sympathy and the sympathy of the wider Church of Ireland family in the Diocese of Clogher.
“His work for his church and community in the Clogher Valley was greatly appreciated. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Tonya and the children, Gershom and Joanna at this difficult time,” he said. 
Born in Strabane in 1970 Rev Campbell attended Corrick Primary School, Omagh High School and Loughry College before attending the University of Ulster. He gained his Masters in Divinity from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia in the United States of America.
Clogher Valley councillor Wills Robinson said: “The whole area is deeply shocked and saddened.”
Democratic Unionist Councillor Frances Burton, who represents the Clogher Valley area, said Rev. Campbell was “quiet, genuine and highly regarded.”
“My thoughts and prayers are with his immediate family but also to the extended church family. In the Clogher Valley area we look out for one another and when one hurts we all hurt,” she said.