Sargent Victor “Sarge” Chamberlain, 88, of Marysville, formerly of Ft. Wayne, IN died peacefully early Monday, June 4, 2018 at his residence surrounded by his loving family. Sarge was a 1947 graduate of Central High School in Ft.
Wayne where he was elected senior class president and was a member of the National Honor Society. He began working for Haffner’s Five Cent to a Dollar Store during his junior year and upon graduation was transferred to the Marysville area where he assisted the district manager with stores in Marysville, Plain City, Westerville, Mechanicsburg and others throughout the state. He met his wife soon after his transfer as she served as the manager of the Marysville location.
Sarge enjoyed a long and distinguished career with the O.M. Scotts Company, now Scotts Miracle-Gro, and retired in the spring of 1999 as the director of purchased materials following 50 years of service. He began his career with Scotts as a bookkeeper in 1949 and assisted in the areas of inventory control, accounting and manufacturing. In 1958, as Scotts became departmentalized, Sarge was named the first manager of the purchasing department and later was named director of purchasing in 1976.
He served as president of Scotts 20 year club in 1974 and was only the fourth Scotts associate to work for 50 years at the time. He was regarded as Scotts’ unofficial historian and had the distinction of knowing and working with each president who served the organization until his retirement. Sarge was proud of his affiliation with the National Association of Purchasing Managers (NAPM) and served as president of the Columbus NAPM and as national chairman of the chemical group of NAPM in 1972 and 1973.
He received the “Hank Slauter Award,” NAPM’s highest award for a local association in 1990. A faithful member of St. John’s Lutheran Church, he was active on the Bereavement Support Ministry Committee, the Stephen’s Ministry and he served as chairman of the church’s Board of Administration for over 20 years. He was an active and longtime member of the Kiwanis Club of Marysville, serving as club president in 1965 and 2002 and was currently club secretary, a position he has held since 2008.
Through Kiwanis, Sarge received the prestigious George F. Hixson Award in October 1997; the President’s Award, established the Sargent V. Chamberlain Scholarship for graduates of Fairbanks High School and took great pride in sharing membership in the club with one of his granddaughters. Always dedicated to his community, Sarge served as president of the Union County Community Concerts Association and was a board member of the Union County Chapter of the American Red Cross. He was a member of the Union County Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Veterans Remembrance Fund Raising Committee.
In addition, he was a former member and past-president of the Marysville Toastmasters in 1960 and was a member of the Newcomen Society of the United States, the Marysville Arts League, Columbus Museum of Art, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Columbus Zoo and Public Broadcasting, WOSU and the 60 Plus Senior Group. Sarge was inducted into the Central Ohio Senior Citizen’s Hall of Fame in 2001 and was awarded the Community and Seasoned Citizens Chamber Salute to Leaders Award on November 19, 2007. An avid Ohio State Buckeyes fan, Sarge enjoyed golf, bowling and as a Hoosier, especially enjoyed basketball.
He will be remembered as a loving father, grandpa, great grandpa and as a generous and hard-working community-minded volunteer. He was born October 21, 1929 in Ft. Wayne, IN, the youngest of four children to the late Paul and Helen (Rump) Chamberlain.
Sarge was named after the famous artist John Singer Sargent whom his father befriended in Europe during World War I. He married Bernette Elsie Bertha Streng on September 5, 1948, at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Ft. Wayne and she preceded him in death on June 4, 1990. He was also preceded in death by a brother, Paul Chamberlain and his wife Wanda; a brother-in-law, Dee Hoffman; his in-laws, Elmer and Frances Scheiderer, Harry and Lydia Vollrath, Leroy Rausch and Norman Greenbaum, and his dear friend, Dot DeMuth.
He is survived by a son, Steve (Cathy) Chamberlain of Marysville; two daughters, Sue (Tom) Snyder of Powell and Bonnie (Harvey) Goertz of Marysville; 6 grandchildren, Laura (Nick) Briggs, Melissa (O.J.) Sancho, Stephanie Snyder, John (Lauren) Snyder, Eric (Sarah) Thrush and Lauren (Fernando) Crosa; two sisters, Leslie (Donald) Bonnet of Fresno, CA and Doris Hoffman of Ft. Wayne, IN; 2 sisters-in-law, Mae Rausch, Marilyn Greenbaum both of Marysville and many other nieces, nephews, friends, associates and card playing buddies. Funeral Services will be held at 1:00 P.M. Friday, June 8, 2018 at St. John’s Lutheran Church with Reverend Jacob D. Heino officiating.
Burial will follow at the church cemetery next to his wife. Friends may call from 4-8 Thursday at the Wilson Funeral Home, Mannasmith Chapel. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial contributions can be made to Loving Care Hospice or Project Eliminate, a children’s charity project the Kiwanis Club of Marysville partnered with Unicef for to help cure maternal and neonatal tetanus.
Condolences may be expressed to the family at www.
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