Georgia Decas Chamberlain, 91, passed peacefully at home after an extended illness on May 5, Greek Easter, fitting for a woman proud of being a Decas and proud of her Greek heritage. She was the daughter of William and Esther (Papageorge) Decas. Predeceased by her husband, Joseph A. Chamberlain, she leaves two sons, Joseph A. Chamberlain, II of Lakeville, MA and William Chamberlain and his wife Eileen of Rochester, MA and two daughters, Esther-Ann Chamberlain of Chelmsford, MA and Cynthia Parola and her husband Michael of Bourne, MA. She also leaves two grandsons, Paul Chamberlain of Braintree, MA and Adam Chamberlain of Rochester, MA. She was predeceased by her daughter-in-law, Diana G. Slocombe. Surviving also are Diana’s daughter Robin of Putnam, CT, a son, Randall Westcott and his wife Laura of Lakeville, MA, a grandson, Christopher Clark and his wife Jessica of Jacksonville, FL and their son Austin.

A graduate of the class of 1939 of Wareham High School, she went on to receive a degree from Bryant and Stratton College in Boston and used the skills gained there to help run her husband’s various business interests and to serve the Decas family’s business and financial interests.

She was an outspoken environmentalist, joining the Rochester Conservation Commission at its inception in the early 1960s and serving as its chairman for many years.  In 1979 she spearheaded the purchase of shoreline on Mary’s Pond, where she lived since 1945, for use as a beach for town residents. In spite of much opposition to such a facility, she worked in the 1980s to bring the SEMASS trash-to-energy plant to fruition, a facility now used by many Southcoast communities and a major source of revenue for the town.

Honored by SEMASS at a tribute dinner in 1994, she also received in the same year a Certificate of Appreciation from the town of Rochester for her commitment and dedication to the town. 1988 saw her being awarded the Environmental Science Award given by the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions for her outstanding contributions to the environmental protection of the lands of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. She was active in the Plymouth County Conservation Trust and Recreation Advisory Council, the Pilgrim Area Resource Conservation Development Council and served as a trustee of the Plymouth County Cooperative Extension Service.

Both by car and by airplane and internationally as well as domestically, she enjoyed traveling, especially to southern Europe and to Greece. She was a good writer and worked for decades as the New Bedford Standard-Times’ local correspondent for the town of Rochester.

She was an untiring advocate for education and followed in the path of her parents who had made a generous donation to help build the John W. Decas Elementary School in Wareham, named for her only sibling, killed at the age of 19 in 1944 in World War II. She continued to be a major financial benefactor to this school.

She enjoyed working with fabrics and wore out a number of sewing machines over the years. To be one of her Siamese cats was to live an idyllic life – served the best foods, receiving the best care, having the run of the house, enjoying access to sheltered outdoor runs, and living in heated and air-conditioned quarters.

At her request, there will be no services.

Donations in her memory may be made to the WHS Alumni Association, P. O. Box 32, West Wareham, MA 02576, Wareham Land Trust, P.O. Box 718, Wareham, MA 02571, Rochester Land Trust, P.O. Box 337, Rochester, MA 02770-0337, It’s All About The Animals, c/o Pamela J. Robinson, 103 Marion Rd., Rochester, MA 02770 or the John W. Decas Elementary School, Wareham Public Schools, Memorial Town Hall, 54 Marion Rd., Wareham, MA 02571.

Arrangements are by the Chapman, Cole & Gleason Funeral Home, 2599 Cranberry Hwy., Wareham. For more info and online guestbook, visit: www.ccgfuneralhome.com