Obituary of Jennifer Leigh Sellers

Jenny Sellers was a people person and organizer from day one. Her Mom, Pat Fassold, talked about how she would organize play time with the visiting neighbor children when she was less than 7 years old. She was also a bit of a miracle child since her mom was not expected to be able to carry a child. But nevertheless here she came full of life with a definite "gift for gab" with everyone she encountered. At age 8 she lost her Dad and her Mom bravely carried on doing whatever work she could to provide a safe and comfortable home for her. They came to call Clyde, North Carolina, home because it was an area in which her Dad and Mom loved to vacation. Pat introduced Jenny to dance and song. Pat was an opera singer and actress in off-Broadway productions so Jenny's great singing and dancing skills came quite naturally. Needless to say she wanted to pass on the family talents and skills to her girls, Elizabeth and Jessica. So Jenny assisted in teaching dance at Encore Dance in Sylva for many years so the girls could have this great experience too. In March 1992 she met a young man who was immediately smitten with her, David B Sellers, and just a few months later he asked her to marry him. She told me she knew she was supposed to marry him without question. So David set their wedding date for March 13, 1993. Now many of you may remember that's when the "Blizzard of the Century" came through with crippling snow from Florida to New York. Jenny called crying because her wedding day was ruined. We told her we would do what we could to make sure things would work out. They were married the following Friday, March 19, 1993. Most roads were passable by then. David attended culinary school at SCC (he loved cooking from childhood on) and graduated with honors. Then he learned about the CIA in New York (that's Culinary Institute of America) and also attended there. He was going to have to leave before Jenny since she had to finish classes and graduate at WCU. This was hard on the young couple but they managed. Just a little side note… Jenny said the reunion was even better than the honeymoon! Jenny always said David wanted a football team of kids but because she had to have C-sections that team got limited to 4 children. They eventually pastored the Ark Church of Cashiers and became the best pastors I ever had. When David became very sick with leukemia in 2007, Jenny carried on pastoring and filling in whenever David wasn't able. In early 2010, she found out she had lymphoma. David passed April 25. 2010. We were hoping he was going to recover with the bone marrow transplant but it didn't work out. Jenny bravely struggled through her own chemo treatments while trying to be a caring Mom. It wasn't easy but she eventually recovered and has been free of the lymphoma for the last five years. During these past five years she has been very busy shuttling the kids to their activities, substituting at the schools and assisting teaching dance at Encore, a Christian dance school. This summer she applied for and was accepted to a permanent teaching position. Jenny was very excited about it. The girls wanted to share their thoughts and feelings about their Mom. Elizabeth wants you to know her Mom was the most selfless person she has ever met. She poured her heart and soul into everyone around her, and she hardly ever took the time to do things for herself. Elizabeth says we used to have to force her to go out and buy things for herself or to take a day to just do something she wanted to do. Not only was she selfless, but she was also incredibly kind and loving. If we ever needed anything, she was always right there. When we were sick, she would be up in the middle of the night helping us. If we ever needed something for school or we had to be some place, she never hesitated to get it done. Jessica wanted you to know her Mom was an amazing person. Whenever we needed something she was there to provide it. She took us to the beach this summer. It was my first time and she made it very special. If I had a bad dream, she would stay up with me to comfort me. She took my sister to soccer, myself to dance and Josh to football. When she was young, Mom took dance and introduced me to it. I can't imagine life without it. All miss their Mom and were deeply grieved by the news of her untimely passing. But they also have an incredible relationship with Christ. The first words out of Lizzy's mouth were "we know this wasn't Daniel (the real Daniel)". Forgiveness --immediately and without question. What a blessing it is to have the Lord when things get rough in this world. We know where she is now. Jenny is with Christ. There was a great celebration when she arrived with her husband welcoming Jenny along with the heavenly hosts … and knowing her, Jenny would want us to celebrate her "homecoming" here as well. Jenny told the kids she did not want anyone to wear black at her funeral. So please leave your black at home and bring your happy memories when you come to celebrate our Jenny's life and "homecoming". It will be Sunday, August 23, 2015. Visitation will start at 1:30 PM and the Memorial Service at 3:00 PM at Appalachian Funeral Home, 165 Skyland Drive, Sylva, NC 28779. Jenny is survived by her children: Daniel Aaron, Joshua Eli, Elizabeth Ann and Jessica Nicole Sellers. Her mother, Patricia Fassold, resides at Skyland Nursing Home and suffers from Alzheimer's, and her aunt, Janet Kuehn, of Atlantic Beach, Fl. Also surviving are: L. David, Nancy, Catherine Sellers Blue and Jonathan Sellers, her in-laws who love her dearly. Family is a blessing from the Lord. .