YOUR AD HERE »

Lee Selland: 1935-2015

Lee Selland

1935-2015

Lee Leonard Selland, 80, Bismarck, died Oct. 10, 2015, at his indoor arena. Lee was born April 27, 1935, in Steele, to Granville Selland and Marvel Brendan. Lee had three brothers, Curtis, Dick and Lynne and two sisters, Mildred and Ardis. He was preceded in death by all except Mildred, who resides in Bismarck.

At the time of his death, Lee was married to Alane Selland. First marriage was to Rebecca Dougherty with whom he had two sons, Terry and Scott.

Lee was a graduate of Jamestown College. He obtained a degree in education and coaching which became his career for over 30 years working in the Bismarck School District.

During his life, he also developed and operated Selland’s Indoor Arena, where Lee and his family operated a horse boarding and training facility. This facility over the years was also used to conduct roping and riding clinics that had thousands of attendees. Lee went on to finish his master’s degree in education, but he also was able to compete in 650 rodeos in his lifetime with his friends and family, helping to build the North Dakota Rodeo Association, not only as a competitor, but also as a producer and board member. This was one of Lee’s greatest passions. As a competitor, he won many championships setting and breaking records along the way, with a four event championship in 1970. As a producer, he put on the state’s largest rodeos and had the state finals televised for the first time.

When his rodeo career started to slow down, Lee moved on to other competitive horse events. He enjoyed cow cutting and training horses for young competitors in high school rodeo, where he served on the state board of directors for many years. This allowed Lee to help many young people to realize their ambitions and dreams in rodeo and the horse industry.

Lee is survived by his wife, Alane and both of his sons, Terry and Scott; as well as two grandchildren, Cooper Lee Selland and Celsey Grace Selland.

The Selland family would like to thank all our friends who have been with Lee over the years and helped to make this one of the most fulfilling lives of all time.

One quotation from Lee when he was inducted into the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame was: “If you are having trouble in your life, FIND A MENTOR.”

A memorial service will be held at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 15, at the Bismarck Elks Lodge. Burial will be at Woodlawn Cemetery, Steele.

In lieu of flowers, memorials can be sent in Lee’s honor to the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame.

Go to http://www.bismarckfuneralhome.com to sign the online guest book or to send a message of condolence to the family.