Charles "Chuck" Selchert

Charles, “Chuck” Selchert was born, at home, during the Veteran’s Day Blizzard of 1940.  He was second of five children (Cynthia, Virgil, Walt and Earl) born into a farming family of Christian and Gladys Selchert of Glenwood, SD.  Later the Selchert clan would move the family farm north to Milbank, SD where he attended school.  Upon graduation from Milbank High School he went to work for Lampert’s Lumber Company where he worked for the next 20 years with only a short sabbatical for what he would call the (&*)%^%^ draft.

It was a little before the, “(&*)%^%^ draft”, when he met his first wife, Julie Sandersfeld from Iowa.  They married and Chuck quickly found himself in exotic Ft. Sill, OK learning to be an artilleryman while Julie stayed behind in Fairmont, MN.  Later, Julie would join him on an assignment in Germany, where he manned Pershing Missiles.  Although Chuck described his unexpected military service as a, “disruptment of my plans”, he said it prepared him to work with anyone and, secretly, loved it.

It was during the early 1970s, before disco, when Chuck and Julie had their only child, a son, Scott.  

Chuck’s managerial skill was noticed by Lampert’s leadership and was rewarded with a quick move of the family to Eagan, MN.  It was during these turbulent years of the Lee Iacocca management style in the 1980s when Lampert’s dissolved, leaving him to support his family in a job market filled with middle management executives.

While grim, Chuck’s faith in God and capitalism paid off with what he described as, “the best series of good luck a man could have”.  In a calculated risk, he bought Crane Lumber Company in Chippewa Falls, WI where he said he got to work with, “one of his best friends and co-workers”.  Together they managed a successful lumberyard and became key players in several housing developments in the area for the next 20 years.

In 2002, Chuck lost his wife Julie after a long battle with cancer.  Not long after, Chuck met and married his second wife, Joanne from Scandia, MN.  Not being one for long distant relationships, Chuck sold Crane Lumber Company with his business partner, saying, “After a great run…it was time.”  Chuck moved and retired to Scandia, MN and later to Osceola, WI.  The St Croix Valley had become his home.

He is survived by his wife Joanne, his son Scott and his wife Jennifer.  Joanne’s children Lisa and her husband Sylvan, Shari and her husband Erick as well as Joanne’s son, Ken.  Additionally, Chuck leaves behind his seven grandchildren and host of friends and family.  Almost all of whom live a long way from his humble beginnings in the farm and prairie-land of Northeast South Dakota, and loved him.