Karen Ruth Jacobs Chamberlain

Karen Chamberlain, at age 94 of Long Beach, California passed away on Saturday, August 26, 2023. She was born in Evanston, WY on January 14, 1929 to Elmo Ulysses Jacobs and Ruth Mason (Jacobs). She was the first of seven children.

Karen went to high school at South High, the class of 1946. She became a secretary for the C.W. Silver Company in 1948, when she was 19 years old. She was active in teaching classes for Beehives in the LDS church and attended the University of Utah in the fall of 1949-1951. She pledged with the Delta Gamma sorority, and her close friends there were Shirley Smith and Carole White. In 1951, Karen’s cousin, Shirley and her husband Max, invited Karen to visit them in Honolulu, Hawaii where they lived. She traveled by train to San Francisco, then by Matson boat to the islands. She became employed as a secretary for the Federal Housing Authority.

In January of 1952, Karen met John Chamberlain, an enlisted technician in the Navy, and married him on August 9, 1952. They honeymooned in Kawaii. They raised two children, Curtis K. Chamberlain, and Valerie R. Chamberlain. After Curtis was born, they left Hawaii to live first in Torrance, California then to Manhattan Beach. She and John divorced in 1977, and in 1978, Karen moved to Long Beach, California where she lived until she passed away.

In 1962, Karen became a secretary for an aerospace company called TRW Credit Data, (now known as Experian), and retired in 2001 after 39 years. She was the organist for the Manhattan Beach, California ward for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for many years. Karen and John traveled to Japan several times, to Hong Kong, and to London. Her favorite pass-times were watching cooking shows, doing crossword puzzles, reading mysteries, and enjoying several cats throughout her life. She also was the caregiver of a double-headed Amazon parrot named JJ, in honor of her father, Elmo, who went by the name Jake.

She is survived by her children, her son Curtis and wife Alana, her daughter Valerie, her brothers, Paul Jacobs and wife Shannon, Scott Jacobs and wife Yvonne, Tony and wife Carrie, and Steve and wife Jeri. Her grandchildren Shannon Scherba, Charlene Meldrum, and Karin Chamberlain, and her great-grandchildren Jacob Scherba, Samantha Scherba, Evan Meldrum, and Will Meldrum. As well as many nieces, nephews, and cousins. Preceded in death by her parents, Elmo and Ruth, and two of her six brothers, Jen and Mason. Karen would also want to acknowledge her valued friends at Parkview Plaza condominiums.

A graveside interment will be held on Friday, October 20, 2023 at 11am at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park at 3401 South Highland Drive, Salt Lake City, UT 84106. Followed by a family gathering hosted by Paul and Shannon Jacobs.

Karen would very much appreciate, if considering flowers, to instead send a donation of any amount to the Best Friends Animal Society in Kanab, UT.