Arthur Fredrick Seelhorst JR

Arthur F. Seelhorst, Jr

1921-2023

Arthur Fredrick Seelhorst, Jr, age 101 of Siloam, passed away Wednesday, February 1, 2023 “having fought the good fight, finishing the race, and keeping the faith.”  He was born in Camden, N.J. the son of Arthur Fredrick Seelhorst, Sr. and Marguerite Louise Coward Seelhorst.  After his father died in 1924 he along with his mother and brother moved in with his grandparents, uncles, aunt and great-grandmother in Riverton, N.J.  In 1941 the remaining family moved to Siloam and began the Windy Hill Farm.  He served with the 5th Army Air Corps Bomber Command in the South Pacific during WWII.

Before the war he had completed a two year vocational degree in Floriculture and Landscape Gardening. After the war he attended the University of Kentucky on the GI Bill earning a B.S. in Animal Husbandry.  Upon graduation he returned to manage the family farm.  He then began and operated Seelhorst Eggs from 1954 to 1976.  After retiring from farming he enrolled at Morehead State University and received a M.A.T. in Horticulture. He then taught at the Greenup County Vocational School until he retired in 1986.

Art was baptized through and a lifelong part of the Methodist Church.  While attending UK he participated in the Wesley Foundation, a Methodist student fellowship. There he met his wife, Judith Ann Barnett.  They were married August 16, 1951 at the Centenary Methodist Church in Shelbyville, KY in her hometown.

As part of the First United Methodist Church in South Shore, Art sang in the choir and served as chairman of the Trustees, the Administrative Board, as well as serving in multiple other positions through the years.  He was elected to the Greenup County Board of Education, and served for eight years.  He was particularly proud to have been part of the merger of the three high schools into the Greenup County High School.  In 2002 he was selected as a Kentucky Colonel.

Art was a lifelong learner.  He enjoyed vegetable and flower gardening and tending his farm, monitoring and logging Siloam weather data, stamp collecting, listening to music (especially played by family members), reading, and staying up on news and current events.  In the last several years he began feeding and watching the birds, as well as learning to play the piano.  He carefully watched his health and nutrition, and enjoyed staying physically and mentally active, frequently saying, “use it or lose it.”  He most especially enjoyed playing pinochle with his family, and was an avid UK basketball fan.  He was grateful for “God’s grace, a loving family” and “help from a lot of people along the way.”

Art was preceded in death by his wife, Judy, of 64 years, when she passed away in 2015 at age 89; and one brother, Donald Clarence Seelhorst. He is survived by four children – three sons, Rick and wife Susan Applegate of Siloam, Tom and wife Charlene Sizemore of Tazewell, TN, and Jim and wife Teresa Martin of Louisville; and one daughter Susan and husband Steve Miller of Wooster, OH; nine grandchildren – Daniel (Samantha) Seelhorst, Michael (Georgiana) Seelhorst, Stefanie (Bob) Kokai, Rebecca (David) Spencer, Hannah (Jerry ) Rowlands, Rachel Seelhorst (Shane Johnson), Allen (Elizabeth) Seelhorst, Jennifer Seelhorst (Kenta Ito), and William Seelhorst; and nine great-grandchildren – Pallas Arthur and Noble Seelhorst; Remy, Benedict, Richard and Annemarie Seelhorst; Abigail and Arthur Spencer, and Lee Rowlands; and a sister-in-law, Katherine Allen Barnett Fuller.

Memorial service will be 1 P.M. Thursday, April 27, 2023 at First United Methodist Church 950 Main Street South Shore, KY., 41175. Inurnment will follow in the family cemetery at the Old Windy Hill Farm in Siloam, KY. Visitation for family and friends will be Wednesday, April 26, 2023 at Morton-Hunt Family Funeral Home in South Shore, KY., from 6 P.M. until 8 P.M. and one hour before the service hour at the church.

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