- Date Of Birth: July 2, 1919
- Date Of Death: February 3, 2012
- State: Georgia
Sophia Stephens Camp passed away at her Moreland home Friday, February 3, 2012, after a long illness. She was born July 2, 1919, in Lanao Public Hospital, Mindanao in the Philippine Islands. The daughter of Mary Crowder Stephens and Major Lee Stephens, she was named for her grandmother of Handy Community, Sophia Wortham Crowder. Living in the Philippine’s, where her father was serving as military governor of Lanao Provence, she spoke Spanish before English, the result of her Philippine governess.
Mrs. Camp returned home to complete her education by boarding a steamer for passage to San Francisco. She graduated from Newnan High School in 1936 and from the University of Georgia in 1939 with a BA in history and was a charter member of the Beta Sigma Chapter of Alpha Chi Omega sorority. She directly experienced the great events of her generation, the Great Depression and World War II.
In 1939, she married Jack Tarpley Camp of Newnan and Moreland who soon joined the U.S. Marine Corps and participated in the invasion of Iwo Jima and the occupation of mainland Japan. Her parents, who had remained in the Philippines, both were taken prisoner after the Japanese invasion and spent three years suffering brutal treatment in Santo Tomas, a Japanese concentration camp. During this time, Mrs. Camp lived with Mr. and Mrs. Henry L. Camp at 155 Greenville Street in Newnan and bore her first child, Jack T. Camp, Junior on October 30, 1943. On the same day, February 19, 1945, her husband landed on the beaches on Iwo Jima and Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s armored cavalry liberated her parents from San Tomas Prison Camp. To the delight of Maj. and Mrs. Stephens, the first tank to break through the walls of the prison camp had a Georgia Peach painted on the side and was manned by Georgia soldiers.
Mrs. Camp loved children and was a devoted and lifelong school teacher. She taught at East Newnan and East Coweta elementary schools in Coweta County and Union City and Fairburn elementary schools in Fulton County. She earned her Masters Degree in Education from Auburn University and retired from her teaching career in 1985. As a person and teacher she affected the lives of countless children, not the least of whom were her two grandchildren. Her loving care for all God’s creatures was also well known—from her childhood pet monkey in the Philippines to her beloved herd of Polled Hereford cattle in later life, as well as to many strays rescued along the way. Optimistic and steadfast in all situations, she never shirked a duty.
She channeled unbounded energy with fine common sense, and quietly helped all those in need around her. Above all, she was devoted to family & friends. Mrs. Camp dearly missed her many friends who preceded her in death. A lifelong Presbyterian, she could say as did St. Paul, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” Mrs. Camp will be missed but never forgotten.
