Paul George Chamberlin
June 12, 1951 - July 1, 2020 Missoula, MT
Paul George Chamberlin, 69, of Missoula, Montana, passed away on Wednesday, July 1, 2020 at St. Patrick Hospital, after a long battle with cancer.
He was born on June 12, 1951, in Oakland, California, to Bill and Kay Chamberlin, the middle of five children. As a young boy he kept his family laughing with his antics and keen sense of humor—a characteristic which continued throughout his life.
While in High School he was the top hurdler on the varsity track team and was very active in Willow Glen Methodist Church’s Methodist Youth Fellowship. His creative and technical mind-set was demonstrated early as his bedroom was a miniature electronics laboratory complete with a pneumatic door opener. He attended San Jose State University for a time and was on the track team with Tommy Smith and John Carlos.
Paul entered his career in firefighting at the CAL FIRE Smith Creek Station in Santa Clara County. He left California in 1971 to join the Smokejumpers in Missoula, Montana and stayed there. He married in Missoula in 1992 and enjoyed a close lifelong friendship with his stepson Tyler Cross.
Paul was a legend among the Smokejumpers, having made the leaderboard with 450 career jumps. A Paul Gleason Lead by Example Award recipient, he mentored scores of new recruits and introduced many equipment innovations, including the Model 52, a fire engine that mounts on the back of a flatbed truck. Designed for rough terrain, equipped with a small water tank and a pump, exposed plumbing for easy repair, and storage compartments, the Model 52 is a practical and versatile unit still used all across the country.
Paul served as Incident Commander, and was best known for his safety innovations and incident investigation processes, ultimately traveling around the world lecturing large groups of firefighters on the simple yet effective concepts of L.C.E.S., a streamlined method to ensure everyone is safe on even the most dangerous forest fires.
He had a passion for creating wooden and metal art objects (including a fine violin), and the specialized tools needed for their manufacture. He was a tinkerer and doit-yourselfer, and with his skill and craft he repaired and enhanced many homes of friends and family. He was a rummage sale aficionado and his accumulation of “great buys” that he would fix someday was daunting…
Paul was a skilled sailor and enjoyed sailing his Catalina 25 on Flathead Lake. His many other interests included stargazing with the local astronomy club, supporting the Missoula Symphony Orchestra and sitting on its Board; aiding the Missoula’s spectrum Discovery Area children’s science museum, and giving back to his community through other projects such as the bicycle path he created.
Survivors include his Stepson Tyler, Tyler’s partner, Rosa, and grandson Theodor (Missoula), sister Kathryn (Rabat, Morocco), brothers Edward (Grand Junction, CO), Robert (Alameda, CA), and Douglas (Asti, CA), and a multitude of very dear friends and family gathered and kept close throughout his life.
A Zoom-based celebration of Paul’s life for close friends and family is being planned for August 15 at 2:p.m. (Mountain Time). Those interested in attending may send an e-mail request to paulchamberlinmemorial@gmail.com.
In lieu of flowers donations can be made in Paul’s name to spectrum Discovery Area (spectrum.umt.edu).