Edward N. Seela was born January 7, 1941, in Carthage, Missouri to Carey A. Seela and Edna Holdeman Seela. He lived in Carthage for most of his childhood. It was there where he met his wife, Wilma, when they were in grade school. They married on December 18th, 1960, also in Carthage. Both Ed and Wilma attended Joplin Junior College and the University of Kansas, Pittsburg. Both graduated with degrees in Education in 1963. Following graduation, they moved to California, where their first child, Cinda, was born in September of that year. They welcomed another daughter, Keri, in 1967 and a son, Scott, in 1969.
Ed received his master’s degree in 1970 from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. He worked as a math teacher at various high schools in Southern California from 1963 until he retired in 2000.
Ed was an active member of the Church of Christ. After retiring, he and Wilma served with a church organization called Sojourners. Working with the Sojourners, they traveled around the country in their 5th wheel doing service work that supported church camps and children’s homes.
In 2010, they settled in Grand Junction, Colorado and continued touring in their 5th wheel until they sold their home-on-wheels in 2019. They still continued to travel, visiting their son and his family in Texas, as well as other relatives in Missouri, Iowa, and surrounding states, as well as enjoying all of the beauty of this country that Ed and Wilam enjoyed so much.
Ed is survived by his wife of 63 years, Wilma, his daughters who also live in Grand Junction, Colorado: Cinda Webb and her husband Kyle, Keri Fleming and her husband Curtis, and his son, Scott Seela and his wife Qwynn of Temple, Texas. They have eight grandchildren and one great grandson.
He was a man dedicated to helping and serving others and will be missed by many more than his family because of the lives he touched along the way.
A Visitation will be held on January 18, 5-7 pm and a Memorial service will be held on January 19 at 2 pm. Both services will be held at Ulmer Funeral home in Carthage, Missouri. He will be interred at Fasken Cemetery in Carthage, Missouri.
Services will be held at 2:00 p.m. Friday, January 19, 2024, at Ulmer Funeral Home in Carthage, Missouri. Visitation will be from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Thursday, January 18, 2024. Ed will be interred at Fasken Cemetery in Carthage, Missouri.
In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to Mountain States Children’s Home in Longmont, CO in care of Ulmer Funeral Home.
Online condolences may be made at www.ulmerfh.com.
Arrangements are under the care and direction of Ulmer Funeral Home.
