RICK CHAMBERLAIN
March 17, 1952- March 27, 2015
I saw Rick at Christmas time. He looked feeble and sick but he wasn't letting his cancer slow him down. He had pancreatic cancer and he was melting away right before our eyes. A group of us went to a holiday show at the Deerhead Inn. Rick was conducting the performance. He seemed oblivious to his cancer. But it broke my heart to see this skeleton of a man.
Then I went away for the month of February. So when I returned in March, I knew I didn't have much time left with Rick. The cancer was going to get him soon. So I called Darcy, his wife, and told her that I wanted to have a dinner party at their house. I wouldn't do any of the cooking but I knew other fiends who would want to join me and they were better cooks than me. I knew they would prepare the meal so that Darcy wasn't burdened and we could all have a good time. Seven of us showed up. Rick had just hand a rough treatment in the morning so he rested during most of the meeting but then he rallied and joined us at the table. We celebrated his birthday which was a week earlier. And a week later, he was gone.