Clair R. Seely


(Obituary Transcription)

Clair R. Seely, 87, longtime teacher and tennis player

Services for Clair R. Seely, 87, a retired San Diego Unified School District teacher with more than 35 years' service, will be at 2 p.m. Saturday in Point Loma Community Presbyterian Church. Burial will be in Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. Lewis Colonial-Benbough Mortuary is in charge. He died Saturday in a hospital.

Mr. Seely, a Point Loma resident, was born in Oregon and lived in the county 55 years. He coached all sports at La Jolla High School for three years, taught at Point Loma High School six years and taught U.S. history at Hoover High School for four years.

His last assignment was at Mission Bay High School, where he was voted "Teacher of the Year" for having the children run a history class to demonstrate democracy. He was active in the YMCA and the Boy Scouts of America, was a charter member of the Sierra Club and a self-trained musician, served in the Navy during World War I, and played tennis for more than 70 years.

Survivors include a daughter, Joanne Kemp of San Diego; a son, Donald of Houston; and two sisters, Nana Spackman of Santa Cruz and Marie Grover of Grants Pass, Ore. The family suggested donations to the Boy Scouts of America.

Evening Tribune (San Diego, CA) - February 7, 198, Page: A-18


Clair Seely

Clair Seely, 87, a high school teacher and coach in the county for many years, died Feb. 2 in Alvarado Hospital.

Mr. Seely lived in San Diego 55 years and had been a teacher with the San Diego Unified School District for 36 years.

In 1929, he became the American history teacher and coach at La Jolla High School. Later, he coached and taught at Point Loma

Junior-Senior High and taught history and physical education at Hoover High.

Students voted him "teacher of the year" at Mission Bay High School, where he taught until he retired.

His classroom techniques included letting his students run the classes in order to learn the practical application of democratic principles. As a disciplinary measure, he required students to memorize poems.

He could "recite poetry by the hour, right up to the time of his death," said his daughter, Joanne Kemp.

She said he played the cornet and saxophone and performed with several musical groups. He was a charter member of the Sierra Club, when the major interest was hiking.

"We had no money -- teachers did not make that much -- but we used to pile into the Model A Ford and go camping all around the countryside," his daughter recalled. "He taught us a great deal about nature and the land."

He was a charter member of the Point Loma Community Presbyterian Church and later served as an elder in the First Presbyterian Church in San Diego.

He was a volunteer worker with the YMCA and the Boy Scouts. Mr. Seely took his degree at Oregon State University, where he played on the football team and became interested in coaching.

He is survived by his daughter; a son, Donald of Houston, Texas; sisters Nana Spackman of Santa Cruz and Marie Grover of Grants Pass, Ore., and six grandchildren.

Memorial services will be at 2 p.m. tomorrow in the Point Loma Community Presbyterian Church. Private burial was at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. The family suggests memorial contributions to the Boy Scouts.

Published in The San Diego Union, (CA) - February 8, 1985, Page B-8

[Great-grandson of SGS # 2328 - Clair Randolph; Eberle Randolph; George Franklin; Anthony Stewart (#2328); Guy (#835); Justus William; Joseph; John; Benjamin; Nathaniel, Robert]

Seeley Genealogical Society