Leila Claire Seleen

Leila Claire Seleen

EVANSTON, Ill. — Leila Claire Seleen passed away on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, at Westminster Place, Presbyterian Homes, Evanston, Ill.

She was born on August 31, 1930, in Peoria, Ill. to William F and Leila C (Hummel) Neihaus. On October 4, 1954, she and Rev D. Douglas Seleen were married in Peoria. Leila attended Eureka College and graduated from Pestalozzi Froebel Teachers College in Chicago. She later earned a Master of Education degree from National-Louis University in Evanston, Ill. Leila taught in the Niles Elementary Schools, District 71 for twenty years, retiring in 1990.

She was Honored Queen of Job’s Daughters, Eastern Star and was an ordained Elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA).

Above all, Leila was a faithful minster’s wife, moving her young family to new congregations from Washington, Ill. to Escanaba, Mich. and finally settling in Niles, Ill. where Doug served as pastor of the Niles Community Church.

A loving mother, Leila will be missed by sons, William (Mary) of Green Bay, Wis. and Charles (Wendy) of Richmond, Ill.; grandchildren, Robert (Tara), Elizabeth Clare, Andrew, Elizabeth Anne, Kimberly, and Leila Claire (John); great-grandsons, Jordan, Even and Ove; and niece, Mary Kay Hill. She is preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Rev. Dr. D. Douglas Seleen; daughter, Leila Claire Schaper; and brother and sister-in-law, Robert and Lucille Neihaus.

A memorial is planned for a later date and her ashes will be interred in the Memory Garden of the Wildwood Presbyterian Church, Greys Lake, Ill.