Robert "Bob" Lynn Selle

Robert “Bob” Lynn Selle was born on July 30, 1946, to Maxene (Curry) Leonard and Edward “Buster” Selle in Oakland, California. Maxene and Buster had two more children, Denise Marie (Selle) Pompili and Barbara Ann (Selle) Dwyer, before they separated in 1959, and Maxene moved the family to Arvada. From there, they moved to South Blue River Ranch near Kremmling, Colorado, where she had Bob’s younger brother Jimmy Leonard. They spent a short time during the year of 1961 in Tabernash, Colorado, where Maxene managed Chap’s Cafe, Bar, and Hotel. Life at Chap’s proved to be an enduring source of family lore, inspiring many fireside stories, myths, and legends for Bob and his siblings to share with their children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews. Maxene soon moved herself and her four children to Fraser, Colorado, which was fortunate because Chap’s burned down a few months after they moved. Bob finished high school at Middle Park High School while living in Fraser, Colorado, which, although he didn’t know it at the time, is also where he met his future wife, Donna (Newberry) Selle.

It didn’t take him long to figure out that Donna was the one. They were married shortly after high school at ages nineteen and twenty on January 1st, 1967. He and his new wife returned to the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colorado, where he continued pursuing his other lifelong passion – education. He earned his Bachelor’s degree and teaching license, and he got his first teaching job as an industrial arts teacher in Hilmar, California. Four years of California life was enough time for Colorado to call them home. And despite their desire to add children to their family…no babies arrived. Until, that is, they got to Wray, Colorado, in 1972. Donna says there must have been something in that Wray water, because two children soon blessed their marriage – Lisa Marie Selle on May 12, 1973, and Christopher Robert Selle on May 12, 1975. May 12th of 1973 was the only day that Donna ever mowed the lawn, because it sent her into labor with an 8 lb-10 oz baby. And when Chris was born at 9 lbs-10 oz exactly two years later, Bob called it “good family planning” and asked Donna if she wanted to try for another one in exactly two years at 10 lbs-10 oz. She did not.

Bob became a pillar of the Wray community. He worked his way from industrial arts teacher, wrestling coach, and football radio announcer, to middle school principal, and eventually to superintendent of the school district. He was active in the Lions Club, serving as club president and starting a student-of-the-month awards program. He was a pivotal member of the United Methodist Church, serving as lay leader and Sunday school teacher. Despite his active calendar, he still attended all of Lisa and Chris’s games, concerts, and activities. Community was the center of his life, and “Wrayites” will openly share stories of how he impacted them. His favorite time in the Wray School District was his twenty years as the Buchanan Middle School principal. It takes a special kind of person to relate to middle schoolers, and Bob had the heart to work with those awkward tweens. He did it with honesty and joy, and he was very good at it. He lived two blocks from the school and would walk his commute daily, eat cafeteria lunches with his students, and chat with every kid in his school; he knew all their names and took the time to create relationships with each one.

In 1998, Bob and Donna’s path unexpectedly changed and led them out of Wray to Calhan, Colorado. Bob became the superintendent of the Calhan School District and served in this capacity from 1998-2006. After his “retirement”, he went to work for the Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) and was elected to serve two terms on the Calhan School Board. He also joined the local Lions Club, served as District Governor and Council Chair, and started a student-of-the-month awards program for the schools in the area. He continued to be an active member of the United Methodist Church, serving as lay leader, Sunday school teacher, trustee, and all-around handyman. In conjunction with his involvement in the United Methodist Men’s Organization, Bob was a key facilitator of the Calhan local food pantry, which provides nutrition to those in need around the region. He perfected his craft for grant-writing and successfully earned many contributions to fund the Eastern Plains Community Pantry. He was always willing to lend a helping hand, and he was extremely gifted at building and fixing things. If you needed something, you could call Bob Selle, and if he said he would be there for you, he would.

As condolences continue to pour in, Bob Selle is being remembered as a legacy, an inspiration, a hero, a great human being, a role model, kind, caring, generous, an amazing person, a class act, a loving husband, a teacher, a leader, a great man, one of the best, and as respect personified. And yet, of all these descriptors, his favorite one was “Grandpa Bob”. Bob is survived by his wife, Donna Selle, his children Lisa Selle and Chris Selle, their spouses Stephen Arichea and Michelle Selle, and his five grandchildren: Ainsley, Ansel, Adi, Evalin, and Rizzi. A memorial service will be held on September 6th, 2025, at 11:00 A.M. at Calhan Methodist Church. Memorial donations can be made to the Calhan United Methodist Church, 583 Denver St, Calhan, CO 80808.