Date of Birth: April 19, 1946
Date of Death: October 4, 2018
James (Jim) Fredrick Chamberlin passed away in Kamloops, B.C. on Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018.
Jim was born on April 19, 1946 in Whitewood, Sask., where he enjoyed his childhood years, mainly on the family farm. Jim’s career as a telephone technician began at SaskTel where he (lucky for his three kids) met Marilyn, who was a telephone operator. Jim wisely knew he could not let her get away and proposed to her in an alley behind the downtown SaskTel location, and they were married on April 29, 1972.
Jim spent his career working all over central and northern Saskatchewan, moving the family to La Ronge for a few years before returning to Prince Albert, where they resided in the “barn” on Grey Owl Crescent. Between Marilyn’s gardening flare and his engineering skills, the house and yard always looked top notch. Another of Jim’s hobbies included motorcycles. He and his Honda Shadow had many adventures, often with friends from SaskTel. After retiring from SaskTel, Jim did some contract work with SaskTel International, working in California and Brazil.
Jim was an extremely social fellow and loved to talk with people. We can’t recall the number of times he would strike up a lengthy conversation with someone when we were out. Afterwards, we would ask him who he was talking to, and he would often reply, “not a clue,” but one would have thought they were best friends. When talking with Jim, you never had to worry about an awkward pause in the conversation.
Holidays were often spent camping at Candle Lake on Minowukaw Beach. We loved boating to the “secret beach” and nightly camp fires eating bush pies. Another family tradition was heading to the Paddockwood farm on Sundays. We would stop for penny candy or ice cream on the way, listening to The Mamas & the Papas or CBC Radio. Jim greatly enjoyed working on the farm and the Sunday family dinners.
A few years after retirement, Marilyn and Jim moved to Saskatoon where they built a house in Arbor Creek. Time was spent outside beautifying the yard and garden and looking after their zoo of cats and dogs. Jim especially loved taking the dogs for walks along the river trail. He was a true animal lover. One of his favorites was a golden retriever named Scully; when he found out that she was simultaneously going blind and dying of stomach cancer, he still paid to fix her eyes because he couldn’t bear the thought of her not being able to see for her last days.
After 40 years of wonderful marriage, his wife and best friend suddenly passed away in 2012, and in 2015 he sold the house and moved to Kamloops to be closer to family. He moved into a condo in downtown Kamloops and immediately felt at home, thanks to the welcoming residents of Park Place.
Jim is survived by his sister, Muriel, in Regina; his children, Scott (Meghan) residing in Laurel, MD, Heather (Jeff) in Kamloops, B.C. and Sherri (James) in Calgary, Alta.; as well as his grandchildren, Grady, Sam, Dylan and Henry.
He was predeceased by his parents, Fred and Phyllis Chamberlin; and our wonderful mom, Marilyn.
Jim dealt with heart disease, and later congestive heart failure, for most of his adult life. He crossed paths with many exemplary health professionals. We know that he would especially like to thank Dr. Bose and Dr. Pearce in Saskatoon, the VIP team in Kamloops (notably his nurses, Dee and Sheila), and his family doctor, Dr. Broadbent. Thanks also to the staff at hospice for making his last two weeks exactly what he wanted.
At Jim’s request there will be no funeral, but rather a small gathering at Prince Albert’s Memorial Gardens later in 2019, followed by Greek ribs at the Venice House. In memory, donations can be made to the Kamloops BCSPCA or the Kamloops Hospice Association.
