Bob CollinsNPR’s Morning Edition made a brief reference this morning to the obituary of storm chaser Jim Sellars, who died in Missouri at age 64 this week. But it did not mention much more than his plan to have his remains rocketed into space.
Let’s rectify that:
I was born March 3rd 1954 to John and Sally Sellars and passed to the other side on May 22, 2018.
I retired from Southwestern Bell Telephone/ AT&T in 2007 as a Manager after 33 years there. I loved storms and storm chasing and made numerous national presentations on local severe storms and emergency communications. I was also an amateur radio operator (N0UAM) and was the Regional Coordinator for the National Weather Service SKYWARN program. I was a member of the American Meteorological Society, the National Weather Association and the Telephone Pioneers of America. From 1974 till 1979 I was a Reserve Springfield Police Officer.
I’m survived by my son David and his wife Amanda, daughter Lindsay and her wife Danielle and 4 grandkids. My brother John and sisters Jean and Jo plus their assorted spouses, kids and grandkids…Here are some final thoughts on my life…
I remember our old house at 938 St. Louis Street, the smell of the old Colonial Bakery, The traffic down Route 66 that ran 50 feet from my front door…I remember the first jet I ever saw…seeing a B-36 bomber and the U.S. having 48 states…
I remember the 1960 Winter Olympics we had in our snowy backyard, sitting with Dad watching the satellite Echo 1 flash through the night sky, watching Dad and Brother John building their Heathkit Radio…
I remember moving once but going to McDaniel, North Kickapoo, Roundtree, Eugene Field and Sequiota Elementary schools…Moving to Galloway, 3030 E. Beaumont… living on top of Sequiota cave…summer rains, kicking my football over “Tarzana”, breaking assorted windows and stuff along the way with rocks, baseballs and other junk…
I remember sitting at the busiest intersection in town, Glenstone and Sunshine watching as Air Force convoys moved nuclear tipped missiles to their new home…silos just 50 miles from my house…
I went to South Kickapoo Jr. High and Glendale High, broke more bones in sports than I got “A’s” in class, caused trouble, got a few Varsity letters, was lazy and not much of a student or Ladies man…Got my first job, graduated and started to learn about life…
I became an Ice Cream dipper, a Butcher, a Policeman, a Phoneman, a Weatherman, a Storm Chaser and a fair Softball player…
I was Married twice, Divorced twice and became a father, grandfather and step dad…I loved my Ex’s and they loved me too…I was lucky like that…My kids and grandkids are AWESOME and beautiful…My Brother and Sisters luckily have remained my friends…They took damned good care of me…
I loved a few girls and lost them, lost family and miss them all…My Mom and Dad, Grandma, Granny, Uncle Tiny, Aunt Ida…All my In-laws…They all taught me so much…
I was honored as a Policeman to have met and protected Presidents, entertainers and celebrities…Presidents Reagan and Ford, Bob Hope, Red Skelton, George Carlin, Dolly Parton, Mac Davis, Kenny Rogers, Tom Jones, Elvis and many more…Bands of all genre from Abba to ZZ Top….The best part of “fighting crime” was routine patrol…Being a Reserve officer, I had great teachers and leaders…when I qualified for “One man patrol” I was in Heaven…
I had a few tryouts with the Reds, Phillies and Cardinals…I was either too drunk or too hung over to do much good…But I had fun…I played softball for 28 years…I played with and against the best and worst in the world (you can self-identify, I won’t embarrass you here)…I hit a few home runs but, made a lot more outs…
Since I was a kid I was always intrigued by the weather …I saw my first tornado in Sept 1975 and my last 30 years later…Lately I couldn’t go and see them anymore but, I helped out with SKYWARN and helped my friends in Emergency Management across the Ozarks and the National Weather Service…I liked all kinds of weather, rain, snow, sleet, hot, cold…I really didn’t care as long as I was here to see it…
My first 50 years were Pretty much OK health wise…the last years not so much…got too sick to work in 2006, at that time my Doctor said I’d only live 2 more years ( I fooled that Son-of-a-gun HEE HEE)…in the last several years I haven’t been outside, able to walk or drive but you know, I’m OK with that…I loved all my family, friends, caregivers and the people that made my World turn…so as we move forward on our path around the Sun at 66,660 MPH…let’s all pray, hope, or wish for peace and love our world…
Bye for now…See ya on the other side…
Cremation was handled by Greenlawn Funeral Home East, no additional services are planned…My friends the “Outlaw Chasers” will launch my cremains into a tornado at a later date…That’ll be fun!!!!
