James Randall Chambers
1909 - 2010
James Randall Chambers, aka “Ben,” “Randall,” and “Brownie”, died at the age of 101 on September 17, after a long and rewarding life.
Born to Benjamin Caldwell Chambers and Lila Odessa Spigelmyer on July 10, 1909, at White Springs Farm, Mifflinburg, Pa., Jim’s early years embodied a love of farm, family, and duty, and his memories of those times, told in great detail, right down to the time, date, and weather, entertained his children and grandchildren, and everyone he came in contact with for decades.
The oldest of four children, Jim made lifelong friends in Pennsylvania and countless more over the years, and although his life spanned an age that took him from horse and buggy and iron-forged tools to motor cars, airplanes, a man on the moon, radio, television, and finally computers and cell phones, not to mention the Great Depression and four wars, he remained the same quiet, steadfast, thoughtful person throughout.
His early experiences were many and varied, including getting hit by lightning when he was 10, being Mifflinburg’s first “ice cream man” which he sold out of the back of his father’s milk wagon; working in the greasy engine room of a freighter that sailed through the Panama Canal to pay his fare to the West Coast; and working as a ranch hand in Wyoming (where he also played trombone in the local band).
During the depression he took literally any job he could find, until eventually he found his life’s career as an engineer for the Union Pacific Railroad in southern California.
Jim enjoyed sports of all kinds, and played basketball, football, and tennis throughout his school years; and he remained an avid hunter and fisherman throughout his entire life. His great love, however, was the state of Montana.
Jim began hunting in the Big Hole Valley in 1955, returning every year for almost 2 decades, always lending a hand to the locals if needed. And, upon retirement in 1974, thanks to those same residents of the Big Hole Valley, was able to build his “dream home”, a true log cabin (milled by the Wilke Bros. in Wisdom), which he shared with his wife of 46 years, Eileen Carolyn Cox.
They spent as much of the year in the Big Hole as weather permitted, living the other several months in Anaheim, Calif.
Sadly, he was dealt a blow when his wife passed away only four years later. Eventually he remarried Aileen Peterson of Dillon, whom he was with for eight years, and it was at this time he became a full-time resident of Montana.
In 1988, he met his present wife of 20 years, Harriet Marie Enderson Van Vynck, also of Dillon, who has been a loving companion, and who shared his love of all things Montana.
Jim is survived by his wife, Harriet Marie; his children, son Larry T. Chambers, Dillon, son Ray B. Chambers, McLean, Va., son J. Reber Chambers, Jefferson, Colo., daughter Ellen J. Cooney, Petaluma, Calif.; as well as 11 grandchildren, 19 (with one on the way) great-grandchildren, two (with another soon to be born) great-great-grandchildren; his two step-children, John Van Vynck, Nachez, Wash., and Helen M. Edwards, Dillon; and numerous nieces, nephews, step-grandchildren and step great-grandchildren.
Jim will be forever missed by his family, as well as countless friends with whom he shared his cabin, his smile, and his astoundingly detailed stories; and he will always be remembered for the twinkle in his eye and the pipe in his hand.
There will be a memorial visitation from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 23, at the Brundage Funeral Home, followed by a memorial service at 7 p.m.
For those unable to attend, a guestbook is currently available at the Brundage Funeral Home.
A private ceremony for the family will be held next summer for interment at the Jackson Cemetery in Jackson.
Donations should be made to the charity of your choice or the Shriners Hospital for Children, P.O. Box 2472, Spokane, WA., 99210-2472.
A guest book is available at www.brundagefuneralhome.com.
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