Dolores "Dee" Belle Selzer

Dolores “Dee” Belle (Rea) Selzer, 93, of Des Moines passed away on Friday, December 11, 2020. She was born in Detroit, Michigan to Everett and Edna (Vincent) Rea on June 8, 1927. On October 25, 1947, Dee was united in marriage to the love of her life, Carl Richard Selzer in Port Huron, Michigan. They moved to Iowa in 1959. After moving to Des Moines, she was a homemaker until a few years later when she started working at Hawkeye Security Insurance Company as a claims associate until retiring in 1989.

Dee was full of love and kindness. She was one of a kind, always wearing a heartwarming smile and making everyone she met feel special. No one was more committed to being kind to others. She never had an unkind word to say. Those who knew her could simply describe her as “lovely”. Dee loved spending hours finding just the right Hallmark card to give her loved ones for every occasion. She enjoyed attending events for her children and grandchildren, and never missed a concert or a sporting event. She loved crocheting, reading, history, traveling by car across the country with Carl, and collecting lighthouses. Dee also loved to write. She wrote her life story on the backs of photos, in journals, and even on recipe cards. Her family will cherish these notes and details.

Dee was preceded in death by her parents; two sisters, Marilu Gragowski and Bonnie Adkins; and her loving husband of 68 years, Carl. Left to cherish her memory are four children, Jennifer (Vinton) Hays of Des Moines, Debbie (Bob) Fogle of Des Moines, Cindy (Pat) Miller of Urbandale, and Rich (Sharon) Selzer of Atlanta, Georgia; ten grandchildren, Heather Hays, Tad Hays, Layla Nichols, Zach Ward, Andrea Langford, Libby Endorf, Turner Miller, Adam Selzer, Eli Selzer, and Cassidy Selzer; eleven great-grandchildren; a sister, Inadel Norton; and many nieces and nephews.

Memorials may be directed to St. Peter Lutheran Church in Grimes.