Randi Lynn Campanella, lovingly known as Dee, peacefully transitioned into our Lord’s kingdom early the morning of October 28, 2026. While crossing the finish line, Dee was surrounded by the love of family and friends. Dee will be missed by all who knew and loved her. Knowing Dee has been an honor, a privilege, and a lesson in grace, dignity and humility.
Dee was born in Detroit, Michigan, on April 20, 1977, the firstborn daughter of Carl and Barbara (deceased) Campanella. From the very beginning, Dee had a strong spirit and a personality all her own.
When Dee was young, her family moved to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where she would grow up and build so many important friendships and memories. Yet Michigan always held a special place in her heart, and in many ways, she always considered it home.
While in Texas, Dee demonstrated outstanding academic prowess throughout her formative years in addition to an active pursuit of opportunities for student leadership and extracurricular involvement. During high school, at Plano Senior High, she was heavily involved in drill team, student council, STAND, gymnastics and cheer – amongst other activities. After high school, Dee pursued her undergraduate degree at The University of Texas at Austin. Her time there was marked by a very busy (yet organized!) calendar, as she maintained an excellent grade point average while involving herself in service organizations and leadership roles across campus – the list is long, but some of her activities included: Summer Orientation Advisor, Orange Jackets, Texas Spirits, Mortar Board, University Tours, Chi Omega, and the UT Dance Team.
Her student leadership was recognized with the President’s Leadership Award in 1997, given annually to just six undergraduate students, and The University of Texas Outstanding Student Award in 1998, awarded each year to just two graduating seniors for leadership, scholarship, character, and service.
Dee was known for her warmth, humor, goofiness, zest for life, and strong Longhorn spirit. She valued leadership that brought people together and made others feel welcomed and included.
After graduating from UT, Dee served for two years with AmeriCorps. During that time she participated in a leading-edge research study on HIV/AIDS conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), one of only twenty women to do so.
Dee then earned a Master of Education in Higher Education Administration and a Master of Public Health in Public and Community Health from the University of Maryland. In 2010, Dee relocated to Holland, Michigan where she worked at Hope College.
For the majority of her professional career, she worked in student affairs, primarily in residential life and housing, with additional work focused on social justice, sexual assault education, and relationship violence prevention. One of the most rewarding parts of her career was supervising employees, developing leaders, and building strong teams. Dee was dedicated to serving, supporting, and advocating for students.
Her first career move after graduate school was to work at Washington University in St. Louis where she worked as a leader in student housing. Dee then transitioned to working in senior leadership in student life/formation at Hope College in 2010. She shaped resident assistant training and helped students grow into confident, compassionate leaders. During her 15 years of work and service at Hope College, Dee created Students Teaching and Empowering Peers (STEP) at Hope College. She dedicated her life to helping students discover their inner strength, speak their truth, and lift each other up. Her work affected the lives of thousands of students throughout the course of her career.
She later founded Peak Performance Fitness, LLC, a personal training and health coaching business, where she combined her background in education with her interests in fitness, behavior change, coaching, and relationship-building.
Dee was the ULTIMATE trainer – mentoring, guiding and pushing so many people to do hard things, to realize how strong they could be (inside and out) and to believe in themselves. She incorporated humor and random, spastic dancing when the music inspired her – motivating with laughter and the energy of the energizer bunny! One Halloween, she even dressed as Richard Simmons and coached in character! She poured over training plans, individualizing them to serve the physical and emotional/mental needs of each client. She trained people far beyond their bodies. Dee strengthened minds, lifted hearts, and helped people see what they were capable of becoming.
Dee also was an amazing athlete. She wanted the challenge! Dee brought the same determination to her own athletic pursuits as she gifted her clients. She ran everything from marathons to obstacle races, although she much preferred races involving trails, tree roots, stairs and pits of mud to what she considered a “boring” paved road race. The harder the challenge, the more it appealed to her.
Yet these activities paled in comparison to Dee’s focus on developing high quality, meaningful relationships that would last a lifetime. Wherever Dee lived, from Texas to Maryland and from Missouri to Michigan, Dee left an indelible mark on the places and people, making and then carrying cherished friendships for a lifetime. Dee was truly a great friend; many who knew her regarded themselves as lucky winners of the BFF lottery, because that’s what being a close friend to Dee felt like. What defined Dee most was the way she loved her people.
Dee was the “person” for so many of the people she knew and loved. Dee drew from an authentic, honest and grappling faith to pour her heart into people. What made Dee an incredible friend was her ability to be fully present with each person. To be in a close relationship with Dee was to be fully known, fully loved, challenged in weaknesses and supported in successes. Dee KNEW each person who knew her closely. Throughout her life, Dee had a remarkable ability to bring out the strength in other people. As the ultimate trainer, she mentored, guided and challenged her clients to do hard things and discover just how strong they could be, both inside and out. She carefully individualized her training to meet not only their physical needs, but their emotional and mental needs as well. Dee didn’t simply train bodies; she cared deeply about the whole person.
To her family, Dee was a beloved daughter, sister and aunt, affectionately known to her nieces as “Auntie Doo Doo.” She was incredibly strong, deeply loyal and very funny. But above all, Dee loved fiercely and deeply. When she loved you, she loved you with her whole heart. Her family will forever treasure a lifetime of memories, music, laughter, inside jokes and all of the little things that made Dee unmistakably Dee.
Dee’s life was far too short, but her impact was enormous. There are people who are stronger because Dee challenged them, more confident because she believed in them, and more courageous because she reminded them what they were capable of.
Those who knew and loved Dee will continue to find her in the stories they tell, the lessons she taught them, the songs that bring back a memory, the laughter she inspired and those unexpected moments that make them smile and say, “That is so Dee.”
Dee was preceded in death by her mother, Barbara Campanella. She is survived by her father and stepmom, Carl and Arlene Campanella, her sister Lauren Rozdilsky and brother-in-law Chris, along with her nieces Alyssa and Avery, who lovingly knew her as “Auntie Doo Doo” and held an incredibly special place in her heart. Dee is also survived by her stepbrothers, Adam Spina and his wife, Vanessa Nieto, as well as Nicholas Spina and his wife, Svetlana Bondar, along with their families. Dee also leaves behind Scout, an anxious yet lovable dog with whom Dee was able to spend some of her final hours.
Dee was loved greatly and will be missed by many. Let us all find peace knowing that Dee has entered our Lord in Heaven’s kingdom, and that Dee is resting in eternal light and peace.
Dee’s celebration of life will be Thursday, November 19, 2026 at Hope Church in Holland, MI at 1pm. We ask that guests wear bright colors, athletic/athleisure wear, and/or University of Texas (UT) themed attire. We want to celebrate the light and life Dee brought into this world.
To honor Dee and support her family/loved ones:
Donations and contributions to honor Dee’s legacy can be made to the Campanella Leadership Scholarship at The University of Texas at Austin at the following link: https://www.texasexes.org/CampanellaLeadershipScholarship (For the best experience, we recommend copying and pasting the link rather than using the URL that appears once the page loads).
Nicki Flinn-Culver has designed an incredible shirt that honors Dee and will support her scholarship. If you are interested in purchasing a t-shirt in honor of Dee Campanella, you can do so by completing this form. Proceeds from your purchase will support the Campanella Leadership Scholarship at The University of Texas at Austin and honor her legacy. Be sure to include your name and shirt size with your order (please complete one form per t-shirt). Also, please provide your complete mailing address when ordering if you need your purchase delivered. All orders and payments MUST be received by Wednesday, November 4.
Finally, Dee Campanella’s family and friends would like to say a very sincere thank you to Dee’s lifetime community for offering so much support and love. Dee was overwhelmed with gratitude and unable to respond to all of the messages and texts she received over the last several months. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you very much.
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