Private graveside memorial services will be held by the family at a later date for Edward Charles Chamberlain, 88, of Chickasha.
Edward Charles Chamberlain was born February 19, 1932 in Kansas City, Kansas, the son of Charles Edward Chamberlain and Vira Mae (Thompson) Chamberlain. He made his home in Argentine, Kansas, a suburb of Kansas City.
Edward attended Stanley Grade School and Argentine Junior High and High School until January 1949. He started playing the trumpet in the second grade and started playing in the high school band when he was just in the 7th Grade and played all the way through high school.
He then moved to Corpus Christi, Texas and attended Corpus Christi High School until he graduated in May 1950. In Corpus, he played in the band and high school orchestra. He was also selected for District, Regional and all State Band his senior year.
Ed then attended Del Mar Junior College in Corpus Christi, on a music scholarship, from September 1950 to January 1952, when he was called active duty in the U.S. Naval Reserve. He left for the Great Lakes Naval Training Center and he remembers that it was 60 degrees when he left Corpus Christi and it was 5 below zero when he arrived in Great Lakes. Ed spent 13 weeks at Great Lakes and then was sent to Little Creek, Virginia to the Amphibious Construction Battalion 2 (ACB 2). He worked on a “Pontoon Causeway” crew and was released from active duty as a third-class Construction Driver in December 1953.
He then returned home and attended the University of Texas from January 1954 through May 1956. He then went to work in Corpus Christi for Sinclair Oil and Gas as a Geological Draftsman until September 1957 when he enrolled at Texas A&I College in Kingsville, Texas.
On December 21, 1957, Ed married Ida Jean Creech in Corpus Christi, where they made their home. They were married for 54 years until her passing in 2011.
He graduated from Texas A&I with a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) Degree in May 1958 and got a job teaching math and being an assistant coach at Ingleside, Texas where they stayed for the next three years.
In June 1961, he accepted a job as a Claims Representative for the Social Security Administration in Houston, Texas and after training was placed in the Corpus Christi office.
Ed and Jean moved to Portland, Texas. Their first son Charles Edward Chamberlain II was born May 9, 1962 and their second son James Robert Chamberlain was born April 3, 1964.
In May 1971, Ed accepted a job as Operations Supervisor in the Houston Social Security Office so the family moved to Houston for a couple years until he was offered the Branch Manager job in Chickasha, Oklahoma. They moved to Chickasha in July 1973 and made it their home for the remainder of their years.
Ed was an active member of the Chickasha Rotary Club, where he served as President, Program Chairman and Board Member and had been the Editor of the Chickasha Rotawheel for over 25 years. He also served on the United Way Board, Salvation Army Board and the Board of the Chickasha Country Club.
He has been an active member of Epworth United Methodist Church, teaching a Sunday School Class and singing in the church choir.
Ed was preceded in death by both parents and his wife, Ida “Jean” Chamberlain.
Survivors include his brother Robert Chamberlain of Kansas City, Missouri; sons and daughters-in-law Chuck and Melanie Chamberlain of Marlow and James and Amy Chamberlain of Ninnekah; grandchildren Blake Chamberlain, Brittany and Denton Holmes, Parker Chamberlain and Ethan Chamberlain; great-grandchildren McKaya Holmes, Abby Chamberlain and Addison Chamberlain; and other extended family and friends.
Cremation arrangements are under the direction of Ferguson Funeral Home.