Theodore L. Seitz

THEODORE LEE SEITZ, Ph.D. ASHEVILLE - Theodore Lee Seitz, Ph.D., died May 14, 2015, age 87. He began life in Oregon in 1927. His high school experience included playing football at a rural high school in Texas and fighting fires on the west coast. His early work included selling newspapers, delivering milk, running a service station, driving a taxi, ranching, being a semi-pro boxer, logging the Oregon woods, and banking. Ted joined the US Navy, 1945-47, and was accepted into the V-5 program which led to his earning a Bachelor of Arts in Literature from San Francisco State in 1953 and his Master of Arts in 1960. In California Ted taught emotionally disturbed and developmentally- delayed children and worked with adolescent delinquents. He received his Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Denver in 1964. His dissertation was "The Relationship Between Creativity and Intelligence, Personality and Value Patterns in Adolescence." He was Illinois, Urbana, in 1970 and completed a Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship at Yale University in 1973. His specialty was Clinical Psychology and he counseled with patients for a short time until his love of academia led him to college teaching. Ted's professional career included being the State Director of Special Education for the State of Hawaii which allowed him to visit even islands not open to tourists so he could visit the schools. He served as Chair of the Psychology Dept. at MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Ill, 1962-73, where he also served as Head Resident in a Men's Dorm. He served in many consulting positions in Illinois including the overseeing of hiring State-employed psychologists, the Braille and Sight-Saving School Board, and the State Mental Health Planning Board. He spent a year as a Visiting Professor of Psychology at the Univ. of Illinois in Urbana. He became Chair of the Psychology Dept. at UNC Asheville in 1973, where he recruited many talented professors and built a strong Psychology Program with an excellent reputation--his proudest accomplishment. After 20 years as Chair, he stepped down but continued to teach. He retired from UNCA in 2002. During his time at UNCA, the Psychology faculty honored Ted by raising funds for a scholarship to be given to outstanding Psychology Majors and named it the Theodore Seitz Scholarship. Dr. Seitz was a co-founder of the Western North Carolina Psychology Association in 1974 and later received the William Bruce Award given to Psychologists for their contribution to the profession. His ability as an administrator was described by one colleague as a "top-flight administrator of individuals, of interpersonal relations, and of group relations and programs, who stimulates excellence in others." He chaired many committees and task forces over the years. His leadership style was honest and direct but softened by a thoughtful approach to counseling with others. He was good at asking questions to make the listener think carefully about the choices they were making. Ted's interests included sailing, especially on small boats in the Caribbean and Bahamas; traveling all over the United States by car, by plane, and by RV; poker, reading, exercising, growing tobacco in Buncombe County for 6 years to learn more about the culture, and taking classes at OLLI Asheville by his wife Martha Seitz Marshall with whom he spent almost 43 years of wonderful companionship including 39 years of marriage. She always told him he was the "Love of Her Life." He has 2 children, Conrad Seitz, MD, of California, and Cathy Seitz of Oregon; 4 grandchildren; several great grandchildren; and half-sister, Mary Buttler of Oregon. He was preceded in death by his parents, Fred Trabont and Thelma Howard; and half-brother Jack Trabont. The funeral arrangements are private. Ted will be buried in the NC State Veteran's Cemetery in Black Mountain, NC. Memorials, if one wishes, may be made to the Theodore Seitz Scholarship Fund at UNC Asheville, or to Care Partners of Asheville who provided the best possible care to Ted at home in his last few weeks of life, or to OLLI Asheville. For those who desire, condolences may be offered to the family under Dr. Seitz's obituary at www.WestFamilyFuneralServices.com. The funeral arrangements are private. Ted will be buried in the NC State Veteran’s Cemetery in Black Mountain, NC.