Moses Lake dairy farmer passes

MOSES LAKE - Moses Lake dairy farmer Marion Chamberlain was known as an early settler to the Block 40 section of the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project.

He was president of the Block 40 Settlers group in 1947.

The group helped bring phones, roads and schools to the unincorporated area of Grant County, said friend Barbara Osborne, of Moses Lake, on Wednesday.

Chamberlain died Saturday in his home. He was 93.

Osborne served as secretary of the Block 40 Settlers group when Chamberlain was president. Her oldest son was best friends with the Chamberlains' youngest son.

"He was a good neighbor," she commented. "A family man who truly loved his family. He had a deep faith. He was a dear friend."

Osborne recalled how Marion Chamberlain was always active in Block 40 affairs.

"It was a pretty important organization and he was part of it," she commented.

Friend Mary Harrington, of Moses Lake, said she knew Chamberlain was a "hard-working man and a successful dairyman."

"He was a nice fellow," she commented. "I played pinochle with him years ago. We had pinochle parties. He was a wonderful person."

She knows the family worked very hard and were successful.

"He will be greatly missed," Harrington said.

Marion and Alberta Chamberlain came to Moses Lake in 1955 after buying a jersey dairy farm on Stratford Road, north of Moses Lake.

The farm, Chamberlain Dairy Incorporated, grew into a 700-head dairy. The operation is owned and operated by their son, Rex, daughter-in-law Kathy, and grandson Kyle Chamberlain.

Son Marvin Chamberlain works as a veterinarian for the herd and at a Moses Lake clinic.

Marion Chamberlain was a lifetime member of the National Farmers Organization and was the group's first national director from Washington state.

Chamberlain's memorial service is 10 a.m., Friday, at the First Presbyterian Church of Moses Lake, located at 1142 W. Ivy Ave.