Christena E. Seeley (born Lockhart)
Personal
Gender: Female
Date of Death: April 14, 1992
Death Place: Bridgeton, MO
Christena E. Seeley
SEELEY, Christena E. (nee Lockhart), Tues., April 14, 1992, beloved wife of the late George Ray Seeley, dear mother of Norval R. Seeley, dear mother-in-law of Betty J. Seeley, dear grandmother of Suzanne (Dennis) Wakefield and Randall (Deborah) Seeley, dear great-grandmother of 5, great-great-grandmother of 1, sister-in-law and aunt.
Funeral Fri., April 17, 2:00 p.m. at Baumann Colonial Chapel, 2504 Woodson Road, Overland. Interment Laurel Hill Cemetery. Member of Overland Baptist Church. Visitation Thurs. 4 9 p.m.
Published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, Missouri) Thursday April 16, 1992
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George And Christena Seeley; Couple Married For 72 Years
George R. and Christena Seeley were married for 72 years and died within nine hours of each other on Tuesday, both of heart failure at DePaul Health Center in Bridgeton. He was 93, and she was 95.
The couple had lived for 45 years in St. John before health problems prompted their move two months ago to Brookview Nursing Home in Maryland Heights. The moved to the St. Louis area in 1939, and Mr. Seeley made his career as a car inspector at Union Station for the New York Central Railway.
He retired in 1963, and for the next 20 winters the couple lived in Tavares, Fla.
They were formerly active in the Overland Baptist Church, and Mrs. Seeley was a member of several flower societies.
Mr. Seeley was born in Illinois and orphaned at an early age. He ran away from a stepmother to join the Army as a teen-ager. In 1916 he fought with U.S. troops against Pancho Villa in Mexico, and from there he was sent to France at the outbreak of World War I. He participated in every major battle involving the 1st Infantry Division in Frances and remained behind with occupation troops in 1919.
Norval Seeley, the couple’s only child, said his parent’s meeting was a fateful accident. Mr. Seeley, who had a lifelong habit of getting lost, inadvertently boarded the wrong troop ship in France and wound up with another unit in Fort Devens, Mass., where the future Mrs. Seeley was aiding the returning troops as part of a church project. They fell in love and were married within the year.
Betty Seeley, the couple’s daughter-in-law, said, “They were very close, very tender, very loving. They cared for each other in failing health, and that’s how they were able to stay together in their home all those years.”
Mrs. Seeley died about 3 p.m. Tuesday; Mr. Seeley died shortly before midnight.
A funeral service for Mr. and Mrs. Seeley will be at 2 p.m. Friday at Baumann Colonial Chapel, 2504 Woodson Road, Overland. Burial will be at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Pagedale.
In addition to their son, of House Springs, among survivors are two grandchildren, five great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. Mr. Seeley also is survived by a sister, Mary Helen Schlatter, of Tipp City, Ohio.
Published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, Missouri) Thursday April 16, 1992
