Cliff Chamberlain was born in Los Angeles in March 1944 to Raymond and ViVien (Sue) Chamberlain. He was the oldest of two (sister Cathy). When Cliff was still young, his father’s job with Boeing brought the family to Seattle. The Chamberlains settled in Lake City.
Cliff has always loved Seattle and enjoyed sharing stories about growing up in this region. In his youth he and a friend would bike from Lake City to downtown Seattle and back just to catch a movie or shop at the joke store. He picked up a job selling newspapers at UW football games with the hope of not only selling his papers but also securing a free game ticket; which he usually did. He fished in Thornton Creek and occasionally caught a fish. When he was in high school, he bought a small boat and, after school, would water ski from Lake Washington up the Sammamish Slough and back with his friends.
In 1968, Cliff earned his BSME at the University of Washington. He also earned his professional license making him a third-generation professional engineer; his father was an aeronautical engineer and his grandfather was a civil engineer. Cliff held licenses in five states; Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Idaho and California. He was thrilled when his son, Paul, followed the engineering path earning his BSME from the UW. Cliff had not given up hope that one of his grandchildren would become the fifth generation of Chamberlain engineers.
While in college, Cliff married Pam McPherson and together they had three sons; Cliff Jr., Christopher and Casey. That marriage ended and, in 1975, he married Marge Fagan and they had two children; Johannah and Paul. Cliff and Marge celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary in 2020 during the pandemic isolation. So much for that trip to Hawaii!
Cliff worked over 50 years in the HVAC industry. The first half of his career was spent doing design build turnkey installations of sheet metal, piping, controls and plumbing systems for commercial buildings. He started at Johnson Controls in 1968 then moved to Macdonald-Miller in 1972 as sales engineer and project manager. In 1980, Cliff started the design/build division as manager and later corporate vice-president at Holaday-Parks,Inc. and in 1985, Cliff moved to San Francisco as President of the James A. Nelson Co., a subsidiary of Holaday-Parks. Cliff ended his mechanical contracting work at Linford Air & Refrigeration in Oakland, CA (1987 – 1989) where he served as division manager and corporate vice-president responsible for overseeing both the design/build and the plan/spec departments. It was in 1987 that Cliff’s son, Christopher, died at the early age of 19. It was time to return home to Seattle.
Cliff wanted to be available to his youngest children throughout their teen years and beyond. He also wanted more flexibility and time to spend with Marge and the several family dogs that shared the home over the years. He wanted to enjoy the many friendships he had formed professionally and socially. He also wanted to continue working in his industry. Thus, in 1989, Chamberlain Mechanical Corporation (CMC) was born.
Cliff was ahead of the current generation; his office was located in his residence. Cliff created a unique consulting business providing guidance to architects, owners, developers and general contractors in the implementation of mechanical designs and installations for commercial and public projects. One of his favorite jobs was being involved in the remodel of the UW football stadium. Cliff was able to sign the final beam hoisted in the stadium and his name will be there for as long as the stadium stands.
CMC also offered Cliff’s services as a forensic engineer. He enjoyed working with attorneys and customers to investigate or “reverse engineer” the how and why when a system failed or did not operate as intended and then offer repair solutions or serve as an expert witness in any resulting legal cases. He operated Chamberlain Mechanical up to the time of his death. He considered retirement several times but each new job triggered his curiosity and he would decide to wait “just a little longer”.
Cliff was diagnosed with colon/rectal cancer in January 2020. He fought hard against the disease but lost his battle on February 22nd, 2021. Marge, Casey and Rhonda, Johannah, Paul and Kristina fought his battle alongside him. They supported and encouraged him during his 14 months of illness. He was deeply loved by his family and they kept him home until his death as he had wished. The pandemic had kept him distanced from his grandchildren: Hannah, Hailey, Natalie, Kendall, Ty, Isaiah, Audrey and Mathias but much to his delight, in the last few weeks they were also able to spend time with their grandfather and give him the hugs he had missed so much due to the necessity for isolation.
Because of the conditions surrounding COVID19, there will be no memorial service for Cliff. His family will have a private service at a later date. Since we won’t be able to gather to celebrate Cliff’s life the family asks that if you see any of us, please stop and share a kind word or a memory you have of Cliff. We miss him terribly and it will lighten our steps and put a smile on our face and in our heart.
Goodbye Cliff, we wish you Godspeed and we will look for you on the other side. Until then, we will take care of each other and your dear companion, Isabella the Springer Spaniel, as well as your beloved, cherry red SSR.
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