August 27, 1935 – December 4, 2016
With great sadness we announce Keith Chamberlin passed at home with his wife, Sharie, and daughter, Rosanna, by his side.
Keith was the eldest son of Douglas Chamberlin and Audrey Gillis and a descendant of George Gibson, founder of Gibson’s Landing, BC. Keith leaves behind his wife Sharie of 61 years, his five children: Vickie, Steve, Claye, Barbara, and Rosanna, 7 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren, as well as his siblings, Ardythe, Earle, Roger and Ken.
A hard working logger and truck driver, Keith was a strong man who provided for his family, always putting their needs before his own. He proudly maintained his Class 1 licence until he was 80 years old: A testament of his good health.
Over the years, Keith had many hobbies including model trains and planes, raising tropical fish, carving and building burl clocks, lamps and tables (his table won 1st prize at the PNE, and he won 2nd place for his clock), his artistic abilities knew no boundaries. A voracious reader, Keith was knowledgable on many subjects, and could fix anything from electrical, structural to even plumbing. If you needed to know how to build or fix anything, Keith was more than happy to help. He was an animal lover, with many dogs who adored him. Talking to people was one of his favorite pass times. He loved all music, particularly country, and especially Willie Nelson. As a boy he played the guitar, as an adult he was often found whistling tunes. Keith was fair man and never judgmental. He was always there for his friends and family, day or night, always willing to help without hesitation, expecting nothing in return.
Keith’s main pride came from raising his kids. He would tell everyone he could of his children and grandchildren’s achievements, whether professional, academic, athletic or otherwise. He provided them never ending support: Coaching baseball teams, attending games in all sports (soccer, baseball, hockey, racecars, figure skating, sea-doing etc) he was always there to cheer them on, rain or shine.
Incredibly supportive of their musical interests, he encouraged practicing, and attended lessons/recitals/competitions, and when the time came Keith enjoyed listening to hours of band practices and travelling to performances. It was important to Keith to lead by example and teach his kids many life lessons while trying to instill values, such as fairness and the importance of treating others how they would like to be treated. His children were never a chore to him. Keith never complained about lending a helping hand, he loved every minute of watching them grow and succeed.
Keith was a wonderful husband to Sharie for 61 years. They enjoyed Whopper Wednesday, finding treasures in thrift stores, and selling at garage sales and flea markets, while making new friends along the way. They always dreamed of travelling North America in their bus, but sadly Keith took ill before they could share that adventure.
Keith was proud of all of his children: However, in recent years, some of his children disappointed Keith to the point that he repeatedly said he felt he “failed as a father” and because of this he did not even want to celebrate his 60th wedding anniversary. His youngest son, Claye walked out before his parent’s 60th anniversary and he was not heard from for close to a year. In the last month of Keith’s life, Steve and Barbara, who live locally were “too busy” to help their parents, only visiting their father very rarely and briefly at home. Barbara chose to spend the last days of her father’s life on vacation in Mexico.
Before his death, Keith was worried about how Sharie would manage without him. He was counting on all of his children to take care of their mother and would be ashamed to know that everything has fallen onto his youngest daughter’s shoulders and that the rest have done nothing to help. Keith was not a failure as a father, some of his children failed to learn the lessons he tried so hard to teach.
Keith, you will live forever in our hearts, be terribly missed, and never ever forgotten.