Bill SelmeierWilliam Harry Selmeier died when he was 52. Since he was a Christian Scientist and never went to doctors, we'll never know of what. My aunt told me she kept the problem from getting into the records so that I'd never have to worry about it. Many Christian Scientists believe that if you don't know about something, it cannot hurt you. So her statement means that non-Christian Scientists would consider the facts of his death to be something I should worry about. People always have commented on how much like him I am, in appearance and behavior and even in my interests. I am now beyond the age at which he died and there is some genetic thing out there my aunt didn't want me to know. My wife and I joke about whether I should eat healthy or live like there is no tomorrow. One day at work he collapsed. For the next six months he stayed at home. During the first couple of those months we were in Detroit visiting relatives for Christmas as we often did. His wife, my Aunt Ginny, kept saying he was too tired to join us. When the holiday was over and we were in the car beginning the drive to Cincinnati, my father stopped the car and said he just didn't know how to leave without seeing his brother. My mom told him to go see him. He said that Ginny wouldn't let him. Mom said that Bill was his brother. What right did she have to tell him not to? When we arrived at his wonderful house, Dad got out of the car. As he walked toward the door, Mom told me to get out and go with him. Aunt Ginny turned out not to be there. Uncle Bill came to the door. Dad and Uncle Bill and I stood in his foyer talking for a long time. He looked tired. He wiped his hand down his face a number of times. He was quite expressionless. It was the last time we saw him. I was a teenager and went back to boarding school in St. Louis having no idea anything serious was wrong. Months later, for the first time in my life, I thought, "I think I'll call Uncle Bill." I spoke with him long distance for about half an hour. The next day he died. Click here to reach the main page about him.
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