Oct. 29, 1927 – July 5, 2014
Kay Gilbert Seleen, 86, of Sweet Home died July 5, 2014 at the Bridgecreek Memory Care facility in Lebanon.
He was born Oct. 29, 1927 in Spokane, Wash., the son of Jeddy and Minnie (Lindblad) Seleen. He had six brothers and one sister. At the age of 13, he began working in the woods to help support his large family in Brownsville. He and his brother George later owned and operated a wood business and kept two trucks busy delivering wood around Brownsville.
Mr. Seleen served in the Army as a quartermaster, managing supplies for fellow soldiers in the South Pacific, following World War II.
He married Eileen Roberts on May 19, 1951 in Vancouver, Wash.
During the 1970s the Seleens planted one of the first wine vineyards in Oregon. He retired from the U.S. Forest Service and enjoyed teaching young people how to use a compass, fight fires, fly fishing and many other forestry skills. He had a natural talent for sculpting and carving and created many beautiful works of art, including several amazing walking sticks. He was known by friends and acquaintances as a gifted story teller with a great sense of humor.
He became a born again Christian at the age of 53 and one of his favorite Bible verses was “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun.” (2 Cor. 5:17)
Mr. Seleen is survived by his wife of 53 years, Eileen of Sweet Home; four daughters, Olivia Cornell of Mount Vernon, Laura Wehner of Bandon, Christie Beitel of Stayton, and Karen Coady of Redmond, Wash; 10 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, July 10, at the Highway 20 Church of Christ in Sweet Home. A private family interment will be in the Lebanon I.O.O.F. Cemetery.
The family request memorial contributions to the Alzheimer’s Association, c/o Huston-Jost Funeral Home 86 W. Grant St. Lebanon, OR 97355.