| Otto Sellers Page |
Updated:
2008 May 26
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From Shreveport Times (image)- SHREVEPORT, LA - Dr. Calvert Otto Sellers, Jr., 61, passed away Sunday, October 26, 2003 in Shreveport, LA, after a long illness. Services will be held at 2:30 p.m., Friday, October 31, 2003 at Rose-Neath Chapel on Marshall Street. Interment will follow in Forest Park Cemetery, St. Vincent Avenue. Friends will meet from 5 - 7 p.m., Thursday, October 30, 2003 at Rose-Neath Funeral Home - Marshall Street Chapel. Otto
was
born
on October 10, 1942 in Shreveport, LA to Calvert Otto Sellers, Sr.,
M.D. and Hazel Snell Sellers. He graduated from C.E. Byrd High School
and Centenary College of Louisiana. He received his Master's degree in
Mathematics at Northeastern Louisiana University in Monroe, LA and
pursued his Doctorate in Mathematics at University of Houston, Houston,
TX.
Dr. Sellers taught at Captain Shreve High School, August 1977 through May 1981, and Caddo Magnet High School from August 1981 through September 1995 before retirement. He was truly committed to his students in the Academic Decathlon tournaments. Otto founded Apple Gumbo, the oldest operating computer bulletin board in North Louisiana, and operated it until February 1995. Dr. Sellers was preceded in death by his parents, and survived by numerous students that he tutored throughout the years, and his friends John Hill, Allen Vogt, Linda and Martin Trichel, Marion Dohney and others. Otto has been loved and will be terribly missed by all of his friends and students. In
lieu
of
flowers, it is suggested that
memorials be
made to Centenary College or Caddo Magnet High School. -Rose-Neath
Funeral
Home |
More information from Deann Alford: "I called someone I knew who was mentioned in Otto Sellers' obit, Martin Trichel, and learned that no autopsy was done on him but apparently he died of a stroke on the brainstem. He was on dialysis and wasn't treating his diabetes. Among those who went to either the wake or the funeral were several CPMHS teachers, including now-principal Mary Rounds. More teachers would have attended the funeral but the home wouldn't schedule it after 2:30. "An interesting twist was that he was not a religious man but was loosely Episcopalian. The priest who was going to do his funeral [and who didn't know him] was tied up and couldn't but referred another priest, his assistant, who could. Turns out the priest was Sue Bell, who had taught 10 years with him at Magnet, and Martin said she did a wonderful job. Mrs/the Rev Bell no longer teaches at Magnet but it's great that he had somebody who loved and cared about him to lead his friends in their final goodbye. "Martin said they dressed him in a straw fedora and a Goofy tie and thought that he'd have loved the fact that he was buried on Halloween." |
Comments I've received and comments I've found on the web: From: Harry Tibbals Sent: Fri 1/21/05 12:46 PM During the 1950's and 1960's Otto Sellars hosted many gettogethers in the guest house behine his parents' home in Shreveport. Looking at your web posting reminded me of those days, and later time spent with Otto in Houston where he was doing graduate level mathematics studies and teaching at the University of Houston (about 1965-68). C. E. Byrd students who were in Otto's special circle of friends with very active intellectual, musical, artistic, and mathematical interests included: Walter Emery Caughey, Fred Tibbals, Tim McGuire, Jim Lewark, Stanley Feldman, Bill Hunter, and others. I always appreciated Otto as a friend, and as a gentle and learned person. The next time I clean out my archives, I will look for any photos of Otto. Sincerely, Fred Tibbals Class of 1961, C. E. Byrd H. S. H. F. Tibbals, Ph.D. From: John Hill Sent: Wed 6/01/05 6:19 PM I thought you might like to see the following comments regarding Otto Sellers and your web pages. It is so nice to know that others also remember Otto very warmly. John Hill -------Original Message------- From: Reiter, Harold Date: 05/30/05 06:29:26 To: John Hill Subject: RE: Otto Sellers Thank you, John, for this email. The webpage honoring Otto is very nice. See his picture, even 40 years later confirms it is the same person I remember from hs. I'll sent the url to the members of the class who have email. And I will forward the email to my Byrd liason Kathy Taylor. Cheers, Harold Reiter ps yes, I have fond memories of learning little bits of calculus from him. He understood a lot more than the teacher. From: John Hill Sent: Sun 5/29/2005 9:21 PM To: Reiter, Harold Subject: Otto Sellers Thank you for thinking of Otto. I am John Hill, a long time friend of Otto's. He and I became acquainted as students at Centenary in 1960. He was a 1960 graduate of Byrd and he did know Calculus, so he is probably the person you were remembering. I hope that your memories of Otto are pleasant. Otto was very ill from kidney failure and he passed away on October 26, 2003. I would appreciate it if you could insure that his passing is noted in the alumni register. From: kennethreese Sent: Thu 4/03/08 6:06 PM I ran across the web page you did on Otto. I was Otto’s roommate our first year at Northeast La University when we both started working on our Masters in Math. I have a few memories of Otto. The dorm we lived in was new. This was in 1965. I was asleep in my bunk when Otto and his Dad opened the door and woke me up. I remember Otto chained smoked even tho his father was a Doctor. Didn’t Otto have some eye problems? I think he had surgery for a detached retina about the time school started that year. We loved to drink coke and sit and watch the new sitcoms that seem to come out every month or so. I think I went home with one weekend. He was a jolly guy full of life, but seemed introverted. What was your relation to him? Kenneth Russell MS Math, 1966 From: Jerry S Sent: Sat 5/17/08 4:39 PM Hi , A friend forwarded me the page on otto sellers with photos. I really enjoyed it . I graduated Shreve in '79. Mr sellers gave me a great foundation in math/calculus/computers/physics and i enjoyed hanging out @ his place on many occasions, jerry schwarzbach From the web: Just words cannot possibly explain the difference that Otto Sellers made in so many young lives, but hopefully words can inspire others to fill his shoes and leave footprints even half as deep and indelible as his. A 40 for Our Fallen Homies Maybe most of you knew this, but I just found out that my favorite high school teacher, Otto Sellers, passed away last fall. For those of you who didn’t know Dr. Sellers, he was one of the smartest, funniest, and most caring people I have ever known. Unfortunately, he was also possibly the least-healthy person on the planet, and that ultimately was his downfall. I will always remember him as the guy who gave me a real understanding of math and physics, convinced me to pursue a science degree in college, and had the good sense to only show up for class about 3 days a week. More importantly, I will remember him as the man who stood in front of the room in all his portly glory, held a golf ball in one hand, started a slow pirouette, and said, “Now imagine I am a planet and this is a satellite.” I still laugh at that memory. Hopefully you are in a better place, Dr. S. Posted by bt at 11:55 AM | Comments (2) Comments: A 40 for Our Fallen Homies Truly a tragic loss. His frequent absence gave me ample opportunity to chat up Sarah Shirley, and the knowledge spread during his presence got me through two semesters of college level physics without cracking a book. And that let me chat up the cute girl I had lab with, who ended up marrying me. Doc Sellers, the man who could make rocket science within the grasp of Louisiana high school kids. One of the many people to whom I have never been able to fully express my appreciation. Posted by Jank at January 5, 2004 01:24 PM Otto will be missed. Mr. Cutliff was never able to truly sub for Doc. Sellers, and even more-so now. No substitute was able to step in and handle AP Physics, AP Calculus and AP CompSci so I was left with about only 80% of a school year during my senior year. To Otto Sellers! Posted by etrigan at January 5, 2004 01:49 PM Recollection inspired by the eating of one of those weird new citrus hybrids, a tangelo or a orangalon or a tangenstein or something The white stuff you find under the peel of an orange or other citrus fruit is called pith. This is apparently not widely known among high-school girls, because one day about twenty years ago my high-school physics teacher was talking about the electrical properties of pith when one of the girls in the front row asked what he was referring to exactly. “Well,” he replied without missing a beat, “pith is a thubthance” … Ah, wacky fun. The teacher who made that joke died a little over two years ago. Diabetes. Somehow that makes all those memories a little less funny, a lot more precious. It’s amazing what you can get out of the public education system if you’re lucky enough. Friday, December 9, 2005, 9:44 AM Props to Jeff today for a nice post with an excellent photo of a man many of us knew for, among other things, his fanatic devotion to the reel-to-reel format and skill at drawing a perfect circle in chalk. Posted by KellyMc at December 9, 2005 03:15 PM |
