Verdajean Chamberlain

Verdajean Johnston “Jean” Chamberlain, 89, died Wednesday, May 21, 2014, at the New Jersey Eastern Star Home, Bridgewater. Born February 10, 1925, in Verona, Pennsylvania, she was one of nine children born to Howard S. and Bernice B. Wilhelm Johnston. Jean was raised in East Hickory, and later, Wellsboro, Pennsylvania. At age sixteen, she ran away from home, falsified her birth certificate, and enlisted in the United States Coast Guard at the beginning of World War II. She served as a Hospital Apprentice First Class. Her stations included Ellis Island, New Jersey, where she tended to incoming sick and wounded arriving from the European Theater of Operations. She met her future husband, Roland D. Chamberlain, while in the service. They married June 1, 1946, in Belmar. The couple settled in Bound Brook, where Jean lived most of her life, raising eight children and caring for many more in a vast extended family. She and Roland later traveled for fifteen years across the US and Canada in the family Airstream trailer. She then resided in Wellsboro, and Lyndeborough, New Hampshire, before moving into the Eastern Star Home in April. Jean was a sixty-two year member and Past Officer of Lydia Chapter No. 41, Order of the Eastern Star, Plainfield. She was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, with an uncanny affinity for children and small animals. Jean is survived by her husband Roland; her children, Carol J. and husband Ted Osvath of Three Bridges, Mark D. and wife June Chamberlain of Bound Brook, Gary L. and wife Sandra Chamberlain of Warren, Paul D. and wife Sarah Chamberlain of Bound Brook, James T. and wife Claire Chamberlain of Port Murray, Jon R. Chamberlain and partner Patricia Reynolds of Bridgewater, New Hampshire, Laura Keita of Lyndeborough, New Hampshire, William H. and wife Janice Chamberlain of Wellsboro; her sole surviving sibling Bette J. Chilson of Wellsboro; sixteen beloved grandchildren, her beloved great-granddaughter, and scores of nieces and nephews. Visiting hours will be 5:00 - 8:00 P.M. Tuesday, May 27, at Hagan - Chamberlain Funeral Home, 225 Mountain Avenue, Bound Brook, with an Eastern Star service at 7:00 P.M., and the funeral service at 8:00 P.M., with the Reverend Carl H. Kearns officiating. Flowers are welcome, or donations may be made in her name to the New Jersey Eastern Star Home, 111 Finderne Avenue, Bridgewater, New Jersey 08807