Timothy Seelye, 62
Timothy Allen Seelye “went to be with the Lord” on Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2017, at Kalispell Regional Medical Center.
Tim was born to Allard and Doris Seelye in Kalispell on Nov. 15, 1955, joining his sisters Sharon and Melody. Fishing, camping and weekends spent at the family’s cabin on Ashley Lake are some of the experiences Tim had while growing up in Kalispell. He was part of the youth group at Central Bible Church and involved there in various ways for most of his life. While helping with construction of the church’s gym, he knew that he would not make a living pounding nails. Most importantly, Tim realized that he could not get to heaven on his own, and he put his trust and hope in the Lord Jesus as his Savior at a young age.
Tim attended Hedges Elementary School, graduated from Flathead High School, and then enrolled at the Missoula Vo-tech trade school with the goal of being a machinist. After spending some time employed in a machine shop, he decided to go to tech school in Helena and study for a career in electronics.
In 1979, Tim married Susan Passmore in Kalispell. They moved to Casper, Wyoming, where Tim found a job working with radio equipment at the airport. He became interested in building and flying radio-controlled model airplanes and joined the local RC club. Tim’s daughter, Ashley, was born during this time, but difficulties arose in the marriage, and they divorced in 1986. Tim moved back to Montana and was hired by the city of Missoula as a traffic signal technician; his job also included maintaining radio equipment for the police and fire departments.
Living in Missoula, Tim was active at Lolo Community Church where he helped with the kids’ Awana program and the car repair “oil change” ministry. He met Melodee Pulliam through friends from church, and they were married June 30, 1990, at Jesus Community Church in Stevensville. They made their home in Lolo, and were blessed with two daughters, Lisa and Valerie.
In 2005, the family moved to Kalispell when Tim landed his dream job working for the state of Montana as a traffic signal technician for Kalispell and the surrounding area. He worked in the same building his dad had worked in until his retirement, and Tim was looking forward to his own retirement at the end of 2017.
Tim had a talent for being able to fix just about anything mechanical or connected to a wire. Besides airplanes, his hobbies were fishing, hunting and Hondas. He was active with the Glacier RCers and was always ready to help others with their airplanes and equipment. Most recently, he took on a new challenge and learned to fly RC helicopters. At home he could usually be found in the garage tinkering with something, and often visiting with a hunting, fishing or flying buddy at the same time. He looked forward to “old guy” lunch on Thursdays and never got tired of telling about the day when he took a ride over Glacier Park in a World War II-era F4U Corsair, his favorite plane.
Tim was preceded in death by his parents.
He is survived by his wife, Melodee, in Kalispell; daughters, Ashley (Martin) Cohen and their children Madison and Micah of Houston, Texas; Lisa Seelye of Bozeman; and Valerie Seelye at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas; sisters, Sharon (John) Skillman of Lustre, Montana; and Melody (Dan) Nickel of Limerick, Ireland; and extended family. Tim had a gift for making friends wherever he went and will be missed by those who knew him.
A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 1, in the gym at Central Bible Church in Kalispell.
Arrangements are under the care of Johnson-Gloschat Funeral Home and Crematory.