Roland Chamberlain

Roland D. Chamberlain, 93, died Monday, November 16, 2015, at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, Somerville. Born February 1, 1922, in Plainfield, he was the son of James William and Isabel Harvey Chamberlain. Raised in Dunellen and Belmar, he graduated Asbury Park High School, Class of 1940. He attended Temple University, Philadelphia, before enlisting in the US Coast Guard at the outbreak of World War II. He served as a Pharmacist’s Mate First Class aboard corvette Pert (PG 95). Following the war, Roland married Verdajean Johnston, whom he had met in the Coast Guard, and the couple resided briefly in her hometown of Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, before moving back to New Jersey in 1947. He apprenticed as a funeral director, then graduated at the top of his class from McAllister School of Embalming, New York City, Class of 1951. In 1952 he became a partner with James S. Taggart, Mortician, forming Taggart - Chamberlain Funeral Home (now Hagan - Chamberlain Funeral Home), Bound Brook, which he managed until his retirement in 1983. A resident of Bound Brook from 1951, he and his wife traveled the United States and Canada in their 1973 Airstream trailer for fifteen years following retirement then settled in Wellsboro. In 2014 they moved to the New Jersey Eastern Star Home, Bridgewater. Roland was a member of Raritan Valley Lodge No. 46, Free and Accepted Masons, Somerville, for over sixty years; So-Ra-Bo Forest No. 48, Tall Cedars of Lebanon, Somerville; Bound Brook Lodge No. 1388, B.P.O. Elks; and Giles - Biondi Post No. 63, American Legion, Bound Brook. He formerly held membership in the Bound Brook Kiwanis Club, the National Funeral Directors Association, and the New Jersey Funeral Directors Association. He was a member of the Bound Brook Congregational Church. Roland was predeceased by his wife of sixty-seven years, Verdajean Johnston Chamberlain, who died May 21, 2014. He is survived by his children, Carol J. (Theodore Ozsvath) Chamberlain of Branchburg, Mark D. (June M.) Chamberlain of Bound Brook, Gary L. (Sandra S.) Chamberlain of Warren, Paul D. (Sarah C.) Chamberlain of Bound Brook, James T. (Claire) Chamberlain and Jon R. (Patricia Reynolds) Chamberlain both of Lyme, New Hampshire, Laura C. Keita of Lyndeborough, New Hampshire, William H. (Janice H.) Chamberlain of Wellsboro, as well as sixteen grandchildren, three great-granddaughters, and his sister, Vivian C. Key of Long Branch. Funeral services will be 11:00 A.M. Thursday, November 19, at the funeral home, with his longtime friend, the Reverend Carl H. Kearns, officiating. Interment will be at Bound Brook Cemetery. Friends will be received at the funeral home 2:00 - 4:00 and 7:00 - 9:00 P.M. Wednesday. Memorial contributions may be made to the New Jersey Eastern Star Home, 111 Finderne Avenue, Bridgewater, New Jersey 08807.