SELLERS, John V.

FRANKLIN
JOHN V SELLERS

John V. Sellers 95, a retired Franklin newspaperman and former secretary of the Indiana Republican State Central Committee, died on Monday, September 6, 2010 at the Franklin United Methodist Community in Franklin, Indiana. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, September 11, 2010 at 2:00 p.m. at the John W. Wright Memorial Chapel at the Franklin United Methodist Community with the Rev. Robert Coleman and the Rev. Glen Beck officiating. Friends are invited to meet with the family at the Wright Chapel from noon until the time of service. Burial will take place at Greenlawn Cemetery in Franklin. Flinn and Maguire Funeral Home, Inc. in Franklin is in charge of arrangements.

Sellers was born in Franklin on October 7, 1914 and graduated from Franklin High School and Franklin College. For 21 years, he was in the newspaper business with the Franklin Evening Star. Active in Republican politics, he was named director of the former Indiana Department of Public Information by Governor George N. Craig. He became secretary of the Republican State Information by Governor George N. Craig. He became secretary of the Republican State Committee in 1955. He also had served several years as treasurer of the Johnson County Republican Central Committee and as chairman of the Franklin Republican Central Committee. during the administration of Governor Harold W. Handley, he served as director of public relations for the Indiana Department of Conservation, and, in 1959, he directed the United States Census of Agriculture in 31 central Indiana counties. Sellers was appointed a Sagamore of the Wabash by Governor Otis R. Bowen. He had been a member and chairman of the Franklin Board of Zoning Appeals and also was a member of the johnson County Board of Jury Commissioners. For a number of years, Sellers was associated with Caldwell-Van Riper, Inc., Indianapolis advertising, marketing, and public relations firm. He also performed public relations for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association Indianapolis Crusade in 1959 and in later years for several Indianapolis area organizations including the Little Red Door Cancer Agency and the Indianapolis Foundation. For many years he was proud to have served as an annual bell ringer for the Salvation Army, first in Indianapolis and later in Franklin. He was a member of and a former secretary of the Indiana Republican Editorial Association, a member of and former secretary of the Downtown Kiwanis Club of Indianapolis with 35 years of perfect attendance. He was also a member of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity, the Indianapolis Press Club, the Huguenot Society of Indiana, a lifetime member of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, a lifetime member of the Clarence A. Cook Chapter of the Indiana Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and a member of Grace United Methodist Church of Franklin. He was a founder of the Hardscrabble Press Club of Indianapolis, an organization of retired newsmen and state and local public officials. A racing enthusiast, he belonged to the Indianapolis "500" Oldtimers Club. He attended a total of 77 Indianapolis 500-Mile races, missing only two races from 1926 through 2008.

He was the son of the late Raymond H. Sellers, who was editor of the Franklin Evening Star for many years, and Lucy Valentine Sellers. He was married on July 16, 1936 to Sara Louise Woodcock, and they were privileged to celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary on July 16, 2006. They were the parents of to sons, Thomas E. Sellers and Robert H. Sellers. Surviving him are his son, Robert H. Sellers, and his wife, Lois, of Munster, Indiana, daughter-in-law, Karen Wilke Sellers of Edmonds, Washington; six grandchildren: Joy (Mark) Marschall of El Porto, California; John Gregory (Jennifer) Sellers of Middlebury, Vermont; Thomas (Leslie) Sellers of Yorkville, Illinois; Andrew Sellers of Highland, Indiana; Michael Sellers of Seal Beach, California; and Mark Sellers of Indianapolis (Southport), Indiana; and one great-granddaughter, Eleanna Sellers of Middlebury, Vermont. He was preceded in death by his parents, by his wife, Sara Louise Sellers, and by his son, Thomas E. Sellers. Memorials may be made to the Building Fund at Grace United Methodist Church or to the Kiwanis Foundation of Indianapolis, Inc.

Submitted by Lois Johnson