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Jim DeChaine was born and raised in
Portland, Oregon. He received his B.S. in Social Science/Urban Studies
from Portland State University and his M.S. in Public Administration
from the University of Southern California.
He and his fabulous wife Delain now live in Windsor,
California. Their five adult offspring are scattered around the Country,
with their oldest daughter Lisa living in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina
with her husband Corey and their two children, Zachary and Savannah;
eldest son Jay and his fiancé Michelle live in San Jose, California;
next comes Jim Jr. who lives in Redwood City, California with his
fiancé Shannon and his daughter Liana; youngest son Ron also lives in
Redwood City; and the youngest, Nichole, lives in South Lake Tahoe,
California.
Jim began his musical career as an instrumentalist,
first playing the violin at age 6 until his mother couldn't take the
screeching sound any longer. He later switched to piano with which he
studied classical and popular music for approximately 6 years. In high
school he was fascinated with the marching band and had to give up the
piano to learn and perfect the French Horn, with which over the next
four years he became quite proficient. Therefore, playing the bugle in
the U. S. Coast Guard Reserve Drum and Bugle Corps later did not prove
to be that big of a challenge.
Jim first started singing in the shower, around the house and in the
car. In the mid 1970's he joined the Peninsulares, the Barbershop
Society Chapter that meets in Palo Alto, California. He spent a year
with that chapter until he realized that the enormous demands of his
City Manager position in Belmont, California at the time precluded
continued participation with the group. Several years ago Jim joined The
Golden Chordsmen Chapter in Burlingame, where he sang bass. Jim now reflects back on his earlier years with
the Peninsulares and muses, "singing with other men in four part
harmony is so enjoyable and is such a therapeutic, healthy activity, how
could I not have made time to continue to participate in this fantastic
hobby!" One thing is for sure...If he were still with the
Peninsulares, Sound Judgment as we know it today might not be in
existence.
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