David Morris Chamberlain

Novovember 2013

David Morris Chamberlain was born at Mercy Hospital in San Diego on July 16, 1928. He was the youngest of four children born to Harry and Esther Chamberlain. His only remaining sibling, Esther Rains, is with us this afternoon as is his late brother's widow, Mildred Chamberlain. His Christian parents always took the family to church, and David was saved by God at a very early age. He was baptized at the age of four. When he was 16 years old he was shown in the book of Romans by a stranger, Mr. Orson P. Jones, that the God who had saved him was an all sovereign God. He immediately began attending the "Calvinistic-Baptist" church where this Mr. Jones was the pastor. There he found what his heart, mind, and soul had thirsted for: The truth held out as the only guide by which a man was to live, and the Bible preached as the only pure source of that truth. At this church he also met a 12 year old little girl named Joelee Gray. After high school David joined the Merchant Marines. He loved the sea and spent a total of six years sailing all over the world. When David was twenty years old he was baptized for a second time. Even though he had truly been saved at the time of his first baptism, his young mind had been confused and had thought that the baptism itself was a necessary part of his salvation. His parent's Southern Baptist Church had, of course, not taught such a heresy, but the four year old David had not been a very discerning theologian. When David was 25 years old he and Joelee Gray were married. After a couple of years in the Army, David went to Heald Engineering College in San Francisco. In 1962 the Chamberlains moved back to San Diego where David worked for 32 years for CalTrans.

This was David's life, but what was David's heart? If you were to ask those who knew him best, the words most often used to describe David would be truth, duty, generosity, and love.

As it is God's truth which defines all other virtues, truth was all important to David. When asked, "What is truth?", David's reply was invariably, "Jesus said, 'I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man cometh to the Father but by me!'" For David, truth was the greatest gift he could give to anyone, and instilling truth in himself and in others was the greatest way in which he could glorify God. David started with himself and worked out from there. If a person proved to David that some thing he believed was wrong, he acknowledged the correction as a precious gift. With the constant help and support of his like-minded wife, he labored to instill truth in their seven children. He spoke to them of truth when he was sitting in his house, walking by the way, lying down and rising up. The dinner table became a classroom where Bible, history, critical thinking, problem solving, and general wisdom was taught. Even more important to him than telling his children what was true, was teaching them how to find and recognize truth for themselves. His children eventually learned never to ask him, "What do you think the Bible says about such and such?" David's answer was always, "It doesn't matter what I think!" He would then turn to the relevant passages in scripture and have the child read them aloud to him and tell him what they said. He never wanted his children to take his word for God's truth. He also wanted his children to know that the Bible translations could be trusted. He came up with what he called "six by evening" the Bible. He would choose a book of the Bible to be read aloud. The first six chapters would be read for seven days using six different Bible translations (KJV was used the first and last times). The next week the next six chapters would be read for seven days, and so on each week until the book was finished. David would point out the differences in the translations, and the children could see for themselves that they made no difference to the message of the passage. David delighted in giving away books that might help others find truth. He kept stacks of his favorite books to pass out to anyone he thought might read them. Bibles, C. S. Lewis, and evolution refuters flew off David's shelves.

Duty, Generosity, and Love. To David, these three virtues could only be defined by God's truth. They were, therefore overlapping and shifting satellites of truth. It was his duty to be generous and loving. He loved to do his duty and be generous. Doing his duty was his way of showing love, and generosity was an expression of that love. He lived out this creed in his relationships with his family, his friends, and the strangers that he met. His wife of 59 years recently said, "He never uttered an uncomplimentary word about me." In private conversations with his children, his eyes would light up when he spoke of his wife. He told them, when they thanked him for the way he had trained them, "I never could have done it without the help of your mother. She had it in her power to shoot down my efforts and destroy me, but she never showed me anything but love, support, and respect." He worked at a job that he did not enjoy to provide for the needs of his family during his life and after his death. In 1967 he made and paid for his burial and funeral arrangements so that they would not be a burden to his family when he was gone. When he retired from work, he took over the many burdensome errands of shopping, chauffeuring, and transporting sick children to doctor's appointments in order that he might relieve his wife. He also provided these same services to his eldest daughter who at the time was suffering from poor health. He said with all sincerity that it was a "privilege and an honor" to help his family. Many was the time that he also stopped his car to help a stranger on the street who he saw was in need. Even animals were blessed by David's love for God's truth. "A righteous man regardth the life of his beast", and any pet that came under the protection of David's roof was so regarded. At times wild animals would also benefit from David's sense of duty. He would say, "If God's eye is on the sparrow, mine should be too." But duty, generosity, and love could also be an awful lot of fun! David knew that children loved Christmas. In the Chamberlain family he instituted traditions that made Christmas last until the sixth of January. "Jollifications" of all sorts were encouraged. When David was driving the car, his children never knew what might happen. At times he "completely lost control" of the car, and it drove of its own accord until it would stop in front of a donut shop or some other unexpected place. It would then "stall", and not respond until the family had enjoyed a surprise treat.

Throughout his life David had a phenomenal memory. At the end of his life his memory faded to practically nothing. During this process his eldest daughter told him that she had noticed that as his memory grew weaker and weaker, the fruits of the spirit were shining brighter and brighter in his life. He looked up surprised and asked, "Do you think so?" He then smiled and said, "Well, there is really no question about which I'd choose to have."

In both this life and the next David wanted his family to be safe. He never left a parking place without checking to be sure that ever passenger was wearing his seat belt. Every car ride began with the command, "Sound off with your seat belts!" And from youngest to oldest the responses would come: "Mary's seat belt on", "Rebecca's seat belt on", "Paul's seat belt on", "Catherine's seat belt on", "Margaret's seat belt on", "Harry's seat belt on", "Elizabeth's seat belt on", and finally with a patient sigh and an attempt at dignity there would come, "Joelee's seat belt on." God has glorified Himself and blessed David's efforts. Each of his children and most of his grandchildren have been mercifully saved by God's grace. They are eternally safe, and can rest assured that now and forevermore, "David's seat belt is most definitely ON!"