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Paul Seline Obituary
Paul Francis Seline
Sept. 11, 1951 - Feb. 28, 2024
OAK PARK - Paul Seline, 72, died February 28, 2024.
Paul was born September 11, 1951, in Faith, SD, near the ranch where his mother grew up. He spent his first eight years in Oak Lawn, IL, after which the family moved to Davenport, IA. Summers were spent working on his cousins' farm in Upper Michigan and riding horses in South Dakota. After graduating from high school in 1970, he joined the Air Force. He served in Texas, Wyoming, and Okinawa, where he studied Japanese and cultivated a lifelong interest in Japanese culture.
Upon returning to the States in 1975, he earned a BA in English and a MA in education from the University of Iowa. He married Rhonda Rath in 1979. Paul started teaching high school English in Hot Springs, SD. Paul and Rhonda welcomed their son, Eric, in 1983. Wanting to be closer to family, they moved to Central Illinois in 1987, and Paul taught at Olympia High School in Stanford, IL, for the next 25 years.
At school he was the yearbook and newspaper advisor, co-taught an innovative program combining English, the environment, and technology, and later chaired the language department. He was a National Board-Certified teacher and he earned the Illinois Master Teacher Certification.
During these years, he cultivated many hobbies, including gardening, birding, hiking, reading, writing, biking, photography, and cooking. He served as Eric's Cub Scout leader, coached Eric's baseball team, and took Eric camping.
Newly single, Paul met his partner, Sue Piha, at a writing workshop, and later moved to her home in Oak Park, IL.
In 2020, he published a book of his essays and poems. Diagnosed with dementia in 2019, Paul coped with a devastating diagnosis as well as anyone could.
A celebration of life will be held on Saturday, March 16, 2024, at the Bloomington, IL, Unitarian-Universalist Church, 1613 E. Emerson at 1:00 p.m., and available on Zoom.
Donations in Paul's honor may be made to the Olympia English Department (c/o Andy Walsh, Olympia High School, 903 E. 800 North Road, Stanford, IL, 61774); or the Lewy Body Dementia Association (https://www.lbda.org/honor-memorial-gifts/).
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
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