Gene Chamberlin's Obituary
Gene Chamberlin, 75, of Ames died on July 20, 2009 at the Green Hills Care Center after battling Parkinson's disease for several years. Services will be at 1:30 pm on Wednesday, July 29 at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Ames. Lawrence Eugene (Gene) was born July 21, 1933 in Mapleton, IA to Francis and Bessie (Beymer) Chamberlin. He graduated from Mapleton High School in 1951 and received a journalism degree from Iowa State in 1954. He married Margaret (Margy) Cole on August 14, 1955 in Iowa Falls, IA. Two children were born to this union, Cathy (Doug) Engstrom of Johnston, IA and Steve (Mary) Chamberlin of Cedar Rapids, IA. After serving two years in the U.S. Army, Gene began his newspaper career as advertising manager at the Monticello (IA) Express. They moved to Canton, SD in 1960 where he was the manager of the Sioux Valley News. The family moved to Mobridge and purchased the Tribune on July 1, 1964, realizing Gene's boyhood dream of owning his own newspaper at age 30. Gene often said that it was important to find work that you enjoyed, and his enthusiasm for the Tribune was evident. Cathy and Steve sometimes felt like the Tribune was their third sibling, though they also enjoyed working there while growing up and the smile that it put on their father's face. During his time in Mobridge, the Tribune won many awards at state and national newspaper contests. Gene was also active in the South Dakota Newspaper Association, serving as its president in 1974-75 and as a board member in previous years. Gene and Margy started the Tribune SDSU journalism internship and scholarship program in 1969. He belonged to Rotary Club in Mobridge where he was a Paul Harris Fellow. He was an active member of the United Congregational Church. The Chamberlins moved to Brookings in 1989, after turning the business over to Larry Atkinson. Here Gene continued the newspaper consulting business that he began the last few years in Mobridge. He assisted many other publishers in improving their newspapers, increasing circulation and advertising and helping to manage their businesses. He also taught a newspaper management course at South Dakota State University, and spearheaded the expansion and remodeling of the Journalism Building at SDSU. He was a long-standing member of the Journalism Accrediting Council which reviews journalism education programs in colleges and universities throughout the United States. He received the National Newspaper Association Outstanding Service Award and was named to the South Dakota Newspaper Hall of Fame. In 2001, Gene and Margy moved to Ames, IA to be closer to their children and other family members. They are also active in journalism education at Iowa State with their funding of the annual Chamberlin Lecture. In addition to his wife Margy and two children, he is survived by one granddaughter, Sarah Engstrom of Johnston, IA. He is also survived by two sisters-in-law and nieces and nephews. His parents, two brothers and one sister preceded him in death. Memorials may be made to the Parkinson's Disease Foundation (pdf.org) or to the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation (inhf.org) for a communications internship.
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