Jack and Ruth Sellars were long-time Fairfield residents. Jack was an executive with the Dexter Company from 1951 to 1981 as purchasing and material control manager and Ruth was a legal secretary for Scott Jordan in his law office. This scholarship fund of $185,000.00 was bequeathed to the Foundation dated December 23, 2011.

Jack was born in Keokuk County, rode his pony to school and graduated from high school in Richland, IA. He served in the US Army Signal Corps of Engineers during WWII. Jack worked at JC Penney in Ottumwa for a time before beginning work at The Dexter Company in Fairfield. He was part of a group of executives involved in bringing The Dexter Company back to Fairfield. He worked at Dexter from 1951 to 1981 as purchasing and material control manager.

Both Sellars’ were deeply involved in their First United Methodist Church membership and in their community with memberships in The Lions Club, TTT organization, Jefferson County Hospital Auxiliary, playing four-couple Bridge, golf and many more activities.

Mr. and Mrs. Sellars were married for 70 years and died within 3 weeks of each other in 2011.

The Sellars did not specify an area or discipline for the fund. The Scholarship committee at that time denoted that there would be 3 scholarships awarded: the Jack Sellars Career-Tech Scholarship with a focus on Industrial Technology/Maintenance, Healthcare or Business/Finance related fields, and the Ruth Sellars Open Scholarship, with emphasis on this scholarship to be activities beyond the school day.