Delores 'Dee' Seketa

Friday, March 4, 2016

Surrounded by family and friends, Delores Jean ("Dee") Seketa, 83, died on Feb. 24, 2016 at Dover Union Hospital, Dover, Ohio.

Mrs. Seketa was born in Mt. Olive, Ill., July 15, 1932 to the late Boyd and Anna (Saatoff) Hughes.

She graduated from the University of Illinois in 1955 with a degree in botany and minors in chemistry and bacteriology.

She served as a researcher, including in the study of tissue cultures and virology, with the late Dr. J. Syverton at the University of Minnesota. Delores did graduate studies at Southern Illinois University and Indiana State University before completing her master's degree in science education at DePauw University in 1981.

In 1957 Dee married the late George Seketa. George and Dee moved to Indiana in 1963 where George started his career with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and Delores started a teaching career at Barr Reeve High School in Montgomery, Ind.

To facilitate George's promotion within the DNR, the family moved to Greencastle in 1971. While raising her children, working at various area employers, including as a special education teacher, Delores finished her own education and began teaching for DePauw University's Biology Department.

While at DePauw, she hosted Winter Term trips for students to Haiti, The Bahamas, and the Amazon rain forests of Peru. After 27 years, she retired from the university in 2008 as supervisor of laboratories with rank of instructor in biology.

Dee held a lifelong interest in teaching and animals. The laboratories and greenhouse she managed for DePauw were a regular stop for prospective biology students during campus tours. She was a demanding instructor but was always available to her students for individual assistance in studies and life.

Many animals and students were taken under her wing, some of both coming to live with George and Dee on their rural Greencastle farm. Having been born on a dairy farm that initially relied heavily on horse-powered equipment, Dee owned numerous horses in her life. Recently, Adonis, her German Riding Pony, has been performing well in regional and national dressage competitions.

Delores is survived by son and daughter-in-law, Steven and Carol Seketa of Dover, Ohio; son and daughter-in-law, Gregory and Karen Seketa of Carmel; and son and daughter-in-law Mark and Stephanie Seketa of Goleta, Calif. Surviving grandchildren include Stephen, Greencastle, Nicole McLoughlin of Claremore, Okla., George of Dover; Andrew and Nathan of Carmel; Erik of Richmond, and Oliver of Goleta, Calif. She is further survived by three great-grandchildren.

Mrs. Seketa is survived by brother Ray of Sorento, Ill. Delores was preceded in death by her parents, her twin sister, Lois Kalvin, and younger sister Nyla Gallagher.

The family will host a Celebration of Life gathering in the Galleria at the Walden Inn in Greencastle on Saturday, April 2. Family and friends are invited to attend and share their "Dee stories" in an informal setting between the hours of 1 and 3 p.m.

Because of Dee's lifelong interests, the family suggests that in lieu of flowers a memorial contribution be made to the National Wildlife Federation or the Humane Society of Putnam County.