Obituary David H. Chance

David H. Chance, Northwest archaeologist and historian, passed away on July 25, 2016 in Lebanon, New Hampshire.  He was seventy-five years old. David was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1941.  When he was eight he moved, along with his family, to Assam, India.  He remained in India until he was eighteen years of age.  Growing up he roamed the Naga Hills with his father and the Himalayas, near Woodstock School in Mussoorie.  He became an experienced outdoorsman and developed a deep regard for the natural world.  He also became fluent in speaking Assamese.  His India years instilled in him a love of human culture, past and present. For more than thirty years David was an archaeologist in the Pacific Northwest, working on sites in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana.  His work ranged from Native American sites to Hudson’s Bay Company posts and U.S. Army Forts.  Some sites of note include Kettle Falls fishery; St. Paul’s Mission; Fort Colvile of the Hudson’s Bay Company; Lapwai Creek and Spalding Mission; Fort Spokane; City of Rocks; Hatiupuh Village on the Snake River and Kanaka Village at Fort Vancouver.  He produced dozens of published reports, booklets and books on these subjects.  David spent his life exploring the past in order to connect it to the present and future. David is survived by his wife, Jennifer, and their five children, Katherine Plager, Maxwell Chance, Maia Jonasson, Aleksander Chance and Thomas Chance.  He has nine grandchildren.  His parents, Dorothy Worrall and Maxwell Chance preceded him in death, as did his sister, Margaret Howard.  His sister, Rebecca Chance, and brother Thomas Chance, both reside in Oregon. David’s ashes will be scattered in the Pacific Northwest next summer.  The exact time and place has not yet been determined.  Everyone is invited to come and remember this intrepid and insatiably curious man.