LYON COUNTY GENEALOGY

 

The Family of J. D. Chamberlain

J.D. Chamberlain was the son of L.V. and Lucy Kimball Chamberlain. He was born April 14, 1895 at Waterloo, Iowa. In 1900 the family came to Lyon County and the father opened the mercantile business which was to continue under family management until 1964 when J.D. Chamberlain sold the building materials and hardware business. As a youth J.D. Chamberlain attended the Lester public schools. He took the last two years of his high school in Oklahoma, where he lived with an aunt.

He served in the army during World War I and later entered the family business with his father.

January 15, 1921 he and Hazel Dell were united in marriage at Sioux Falls, South Dakota. To this union are two daughters, Mrs. Russell Fredrickson, Winstead, Conn., and Mrs. Lee Viborg, Sioux Falls. Two children died in infancy. There are four grandchildren. Also surviving is a brother Earl, of Cleveland.

He was a member of the Masonic Lodge. Originally he joined Larch Lodge, at Larchwood. and later transferred to Border Lodge. He had functioned as a member of the lodge building committee. He was a member of other Masonic orders, including the Shrine.

Chamberlain had served in many Masonic offices and at one time was Master of Larch Lodge. He was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star and had been Worthy Patron of that order.

In his high school days Chamberlain was a fine athlete excelling as a basketball player. His interest in that sport continued and he played frequently as a member of the Lester Independent basketball team, which in the early 20s was one of the finest independent basketball teams of the area.