Glen Wesley Seltzer, BHS 1940

Glen Wesley Seltzer, BHS 1940

Glen Wesley Seltzer was surrounded by his loving family at his home in Vista, California, when he passed on to eternal life on April 16, 2010. Glen was born on March 26, 1922 at his parents' home in Los Angeles. He was 4 years old when his parents moved to Burbank and he spent the next 61 years of his life there.

While attending Burbank High School from 1937 to 1940, he held the student body offices of Vice President and President. He was also active as a yell leader and as a pianist in the high school dance band.. Two accomplishments of which he was most proud were holding the school's pole vault record and tying for 1st place in the CIF finals at the L. A. Coliseum.

From 1940 to 1942 Glen attended Pasadena Junior College where he received his AA degree in Aviation Technology and lettered in gymnastics as a tumbler. While there he helped design and build an original airplane (the PJC-5) for a local doctor, who successfully flew it as his own private aircraft.

Glen entered the Army Air Corps in 1943 when he was inducted into aviation cadet training at Fort MacArthur in San Pedro, CA. After basic training at Buckley Field in Denver, CO, and college training detachment at Stevens Point, WI, Glen was finally sent to pre-flight training at Santa Ana, CA, to qualify for pilot, navigator or bombardier. While he qualified for all three fields, he chose pilot. He received his wings and officer status as a Second Lieutenant on April 15, 1945, at Luke Field in Phoenix, AZ. This was just after VE Day, and a few months from VJ Day, and Glen's greatest regret was that he was not able to see combat during WWII. With the war over, Glen separated from the military at Davis Monthan Field in Tucson, AZ in November 1945. While flying for the Army Air Corps Reserves, Glen was promoted to the rank of Captain.

Glen met the love of his life on a blind date in 1946. Even though Adele Baldridge had attended the rival Hoover High School in Glendale, he soon decided that she was the one with which he wanted to spend the rest of his life. He and Adele were married on May 2, 1947, and made their home in Burbank. Glen spent most of his working life as a human resources manager at such companies as Librascope, RCA, Kelty Pack, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He continued to fly and as an instrument flight instructor he taught several student pilots, accumulating in excess of 1,000 hours of flight time.

When Glen retired from JPL in March 1987 he and Adele moved to Vista where they joined the Shadowridge Country Club. Both avid golfers, they enjoyed the many activities that the club provided. Glen continued to fly at Palomar Airport until November 25, 1994 when he took two of his granddaughters for his last flight in a Canadian Katanna.

In their retirement years, Glen and Adele have taken many world cruises to such destinations as Hawaii, Mexico, Russia, Europe, Australia, Asia, Bangkok, India, the Suez Canal, Greece, England, and the Netherlands. Their last cruise was to South America and around Cape Horn. Everywhere he went Glen made life-long friendships.

Glen is survived by his wife of 63 years, Adele, his daughter and son-in-law, Lorraine and Wayne Gunther, his son and daughter-in-law, Greg and Nanette Seltzer, his six grandchildren and their spouses, Shannon (Sean) Upchurch, Chrissy (Jeff) Pope, Sabrina (Curtis) Lawson, Sean (Sarah) Seltzer, Emily (Dave) Englund, and Danielle Seltzer. He was most proud of all of his great-grandchildren Ella Seltzer, Piper and Evan Lawson, Ronan Upchurch, and Tristen Otto.While he will be greatly missed by all of his friends and family, God is surely enjoying having this wonderful man helping to teach the angels to fly. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the American Heart Association.