Mark Collin Chambers – beloved husband, brother, uncle, friend, photographer, painter,traveler, partier, lifelong learner – died of ALS in Carnation, WA on April 20th, 2015, at the too-young age of 61.
Mark is lovingly remembered by his wife, Oda Egeland; his father, Glen Chambers; his brothers Lee and Jery Chambers; his sister Kristin Chambers; numerous adoring in-laws, nieces, nephews and their families; and legions of loyal friends. He was preceded in death by his mother, Blanche Chambers, and his brother Daniel Chambers.
Mark was born on March 24, 1954. The youngest of five, he grew up on a dairy farm in Hinsdale, NY, where he had a happy and idyllic childhood. At age 10, his family moved to the nearby town of Olean, where his father taught at the high school. He graduated from Olean H.S. in 1972, and worked for a couple of years before moving to Washington State to attend The
Evergreen State College.
After graduating from Evergreen in 1980, he worked various jobs as a builder, remodeler, and salesman. In the late 80s he owned his own sunroom and spa company, before stepping into a brief but stellar career in Toyota sales: he won the national championship as the Toyota Salesman of the Year, taking home a new Camry as his prize. In 1990, while working for Toyota, he met Oda “The One” Egeland: Mark reflected about their first date, “She had a face that would always make me happy. It wasn’t just love at first sight. It was real love.” They bought a house together in Lynnwood in 1992, which they landscaped, designed, and entirely remodeled. They married on July 30, 1994: statistically the day least likely to rain in Seattle.
He went back into the home remodel business in sales and sales management at Quantum Windows & Doors. At heart and above all, he was a creative spirit: an inventive entrepreneur, and a joyful and inspired creator who found expression through photography, painting, poetry and filmmaking. He quit working in 1999, and from then on pursued his artistic passions, and his visionary renovations of his properties, full time. No vision or project was too big to undertake: on the contrary, the bigger the better.
Mark and Oda bought an overgrown 60-acre plot on the Tolt Highlands in Carnation, WA in 2002, and over the course of 7 years transformed it into an enchanted refuge for friends, family, and wildlife. In 2005, Mark and Oda became part of the Capitol Hill renaissance in Seattle when they purchased St. Johns, a mixed-use building on E. Pike and Harvard, and completely renovated it. Mark’s unflinching vision of what these places could be, and his tireless, full-time dedication to developing the two properties into heart-filled centers of liveliness will be his legacy.
Mark loved music, art, literature, people, parties, cats, and above all, he loved Oda. He will be remembered for his generosity, his joy of bringing people together over laughter and champagne, his keen wit, his piercing questions, his relentless quest to know the answer to everything, his wild creativity, his unblinking courage in the face of his devastating disease, and his huge, loving heart.
A memorial service is scheduled for May 10, 2015 at 2:30pm at Unity Church of Bellevue, with a reception to follow. Paul Boardman will officiate the ceremony. All are welcome to attend and celebrate Mark's life.
In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Plymouth Housing Group online at https://www.plymouthhousing.org/how-you-can-help/donate/, or send a check to:
Plymouth Housing Group
Attn: Resource Development
2113 Third Avenue
Seattle, WA 98121
The family would like to thank all the people who helped with Mark’s caregiving, especially in the last 6 months of his life, for their tireless dedication.