Selland, Melba Jeanette (Blagen)1909-2001

ISTAD, BLAGEN, SELLAND, KLAIN, WALTERS

Posted By: IA GenWeb Volunteer
Date: 6/29/2010 at 11:04:14

Decorah Journal, Thursday, April 19, 2001

Melba Jeanette Selland

Melba Selland, 91, of Decorah, died Wednesday, April 14, 2001 at the Oneota Riverview Care Facility in Decorah after a long illness.

Funeral services were held Wednesday, April 18 at 2 p.m. at First Lutheran Church in Decorah with Rev. Steven Jacobson officiating.

Organist Alan Sensor, violinist Beth Rotto and soloist lona Crawford provided music.

Casket bearers were Jim Juye, John Rotto, Jim Casterton, Dick Juve, Dean Orwall and Albert Anderson.

Interment was in the Lutheran Cemetery in Decorah, with arrangements by French and Balik Funeral Home of Decorah.

Melba Jeanette Selland was born August 19, 1909, the daughter of Alfred and Emelia (Istad) Blagen in Canoe Township, rural Decorah. She attended rural schools near Decorah.

Melba Selland's favorite interest was photography and she worked for the Electric Studio in photo finishing in Decorah. She also worked for her parents at the Cozy Tea Room.

Melba Selland then owned and operated the Photo Art Shop in the Winneshiek Hotel Building, after which she transferred her business and operated the Modern Kodak Finishing Business at her home. She also did re-touching work for various studios around the Midwest.

Melba Selland moved to Milwaukee, Wisc., where she worked at the Schroeder Hotel Studio and Curry Studio before moving to La Crosse, Wisc., where she was employed by Ellickson Studio. In Manitowoc, Wisc., she worked in Carlton Studio.

Melba Selland returned to Decorah in the early 1950s and had lived in Decorah since then. She enjoyed bowling, fishing and photography, and was a member of the First Lutheran Church in Decorah.

Survivors include her son, Ivan and Shirley Kalin of Madison, Wisc.; three grandchildren; a stepson, Robert Selland of Thousand Oaks, Calif.; a stepdaughter, Lorraine Walters of Clarence, NY; a sister, Ellen Blagen of Decorah; a niece, Sonja Lou Bronson of Studio City, Calif.; four great-nieces; two great-nephews and her cousins.

Melba Jeanette Selland was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Carl; a brother, Nathan Blagen in 1943 and a nephew, Ronald Blagen.

Transcribed by an IA GenWeb Volunteer from obituaries found in the Howard-Winneshiek Genealogy Society Library, Cresco, Iowa.

Decorah Lutheran Cemetery
 

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