Richard Alfred Chambers was born in London, England, on April 22, 1923, the son of the late Alfred Eustace Chambers, a civil engineer and Ann Marie Fredriksen, a native of Denmark. His father worked in Russia, the Caucasus, Egypt and Mexico in the early 20th century and subsequently became a pioneer in the industrial use of stainless steel and in the aircraft industry. The Chambers lived in London and at “Stoneyware” on the Thames River in Marlowe, Berkshire, England. Richard’s paternal grandfather, George Thomas Chambers, was a warden of St. James Garlick Hithe Church in London.
Richard graduated from Winchester College and studied at Balliol College of Oxford University in Oxford, England, receiving a B.A. 1944, a B.M. B.C.H. in 1947 and an M.A. in 1948. From 1948 to 1950, he served in the Royal Air Force. He was a fellow in neurology at Harvard University Medical School, from 1951 to 1953 and in 1956, he was the Will Edmonds scholar at the Royal College of Physicians in London from 1955 to 1956. Richard was an instructor at the University of Toronto, Canada, from 1957 to 1960 and an associate professor from 1960 to 1961 and a professor from 1961 to 1966 at the New Jersey (formerly Seton Hall) College of Medicine and Dentistry in South Orange, New Jersey. In 1966 he became professor of neurology and chairman of the neurology department at the Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University (est. 1824) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he remained for many years. In 1972 he became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada and in 1976 he became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London, England. Richard was a member of the Boodles Club of London.
Richard was married in Andover in 1956 to the late Margaret Madeleine Doherty of Andover, who died in 2002. He and Margaret had no children and his only sibling, his brother John Claridge Chambers, was killed during WWII in a flying mission over the English Channel in 1942. Surviving him are his wife’s seven nephews and six nieces, seven grandnephews and seven grandnieces and two great-grandnieces.
At Richard's request, there will be no services or calling hours. Following cremation, there will be a private family committal service at the Doherty Family plot in St. Augustine Cemetery, Andover, in the spring. Donations in Richard's memory may be made to the MSPCA Nevins Farm in Methuen.
Arrangements have been entrusted to the Burke-Magliozzi Funeral Home, of Andover.