Obituary of M. Charles Seller

M. Charles Seller, of State College, died January 5, 2024. He was born to Martha and M. C. Seller on September 22, 1932 in Bloomfield, New Jersey.

He was preceded in death by his sister, Jane Seller Mitchell of Vacaville, California. He is survived by his wife, Jane Myers Seller, and his daughter, Jennifer Seller-Miska (Steve) of State College, his son, Timothy Myers Seller (Marsha), of Rock Hill South Carolina, his grandson, Diego Seller-Miska, and his sister, Judith Seller Russell (David) of Granby, Connecticut.

Charles graduated from Bloomfield High School, Dickinson College and Penn State University. Shortly after graduating from high school he lost his leg in a train accident. As soon as this became known, his classmates, other students and adults organized a musical production to help defray medical costs. Charles returned part of the money so that another young person could receive financial assistance in the future. This became The Charles Seller Foundation, which has financed medical expenses for one local youth every year since 1954 through Talent Time, a musical produced each summer by students and young adults from the Bloomfield area.

After receiving his master's degree from Penn State, Charles headed Public Information at Lafayette College, Easton, for nearly a decade before becoming presidential assistant and registrar at Grinnell College, Grinnell Iowa. There he also assumed responsibility for minority and international student programs.

In 1975 Charles was named executive assistant to the president and secretary of the board of Dickinson College, where he worked for nearly 30 years. In 1989 Charles organized a reunion of the Men's Glee Club which has been extended to include the Octals and mixed choral reunions as part of the annual Alumni Weekend agenda.

Community wise, Charles helped establish the initial Downtown Carlisle Association and Carlisle Community Concerts. For 25 Years he sang with Cantate Carlisle, helped organize its board of directors and served as the initial administrative assistant. He was a member of St. John's Episcopal Church where he sang in the choir for 32 years and worked with Outreach programs, especially refugee settlement.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, January 20, 2024 at 11:00 am at St. John's Episcopal Church, 1A N. Hanover St., Carlisle with The Reverend Adam Kradle officiating. An informal lunch will follow.

Interment will be in Mountain Ash Cemetery, Laporte, at the convenience of the family.

Memorial gifts may be sent to St. John's Episcopal Church, Carlisle; Dickinson College; or to The Charles Seller Foundation, P.O. Box 2318, Bloomfield, N.J. 07003.