Leslie Dana Brooks Selage

Leslie Dana Brooks Selage, 68, of Palm Bay, Florida, entered eternal life on July 1, 2025, after a courageous years-long battle with cancer. Born in Ellenville, New York on November 20, 1956, the only child of the late Bartley J. Brooks and the late Barbara J. (nee Hyatt) Brooks. After graduating from Rondout Valley Central School (Stone Ridge) in 1975, she studied voice, piano, and flute at the Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford in West Hartford, Connecticut, where she first met her future husband, Jonathan Selage.

After Hartt, Leslie spent the next few years working in various jobs between her hometown and New York City, including numerous singing gigs that took her from small country churches to Carnegie Hall. In 1986, she took on a position at the prestigious classical music publisher G. Schirmer & Co., negotiating performance-rights fees of their music catalog with major symphony orchestras and opera companies throughout the world.

But even after all that, Leslie felt a still higher calling. After her marriage to Jonathan on August 18, 1990, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Wappingers Falls, New York, she began exploring her spirituality and how her gift of music could be used to a greater good. After coming into the Catholic Church in 1991, Leslie and Jonathan settled in Rhinebeck, New York, where she served as Director of Music at the Church of the Good Shepherd from 1995 to 2001. It was during this time that she became very interested in the history, tradition, and symbolism of the Church’s sacred liturgy itself, and studied with the late pedagogue Sr. Janet Baxendale at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers, New York. In addition, she also served on the Commission on Church Music for the Archdiocese of New York.

In 2002, Leslie accepted a position as Director of Worship at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Palm Bay, Florida, a position she held until 2013. During this time, she also served on the Music Committee for the Diocese of Orlando, and was very active in her professional organization, the National Association of Pastoral Musicians, conducting workshops and showcasing new musical works from a number of church-music publishers.

After her retirement from leadership roles, Leslie remained active in music ministry, first at Ascension Catholic Church in Melbourne, Florida. Even after suffering a stroke in 2018, effectively ending her singing career, she stayed on as an instrumentalist (flute and piano) until 2020.

In 2023, Leslie mounted one last gig, serving in the music ministry at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Melbourne, primarily as a flutist. Sadly, her cancer progressed to the point where she had to fully retire after only one year of service there.

Besides her husband Jonathan, Leslie is survived by her beloved son Jonathan Selage Jr., and his partner Arrielle Glaser.

Visitation will be held on Friday, July 18, 2025 from 5:00 to 8:00pm at Fountainhead Funeral Home, 7359 Babcock Street SE, Palm Bay, Florida. A final visitation will also be held on Saturday, July 19, 2025 at 11:00am at St. Joseph Catholic Church, 5310 Babcock Street NE, Palm Bay, followed by the Mass of Christian Burial commencing at 12:00 noon at the church. Interment will be held later at the convenience of the family.

The family wishes to thank everyone who supported Leslie in health and in sickness, and the many people who believed in her work. She was a devoted wife and a loving mother, and her legacy continues with her son, whom she loved to call “JJ”. Her kindness to and advocating for the less fortunate will never be forgotten, not by members of the local community, nor her friends and colleagues around the country, or indeed, the world.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that, in her memory, you go out and support local live music, local live theater, and local cuisine.

Leslie may be departed from this life, but her soul will sing forever.