TOMBSTONE TUESDAY: MELVIN SELPH

TOMBSTONE TUESDAY: MELVIN SELPH (1929-2010)

For generations of Calhoun County students, coaches, teachers, and parents, the name Melvin Selph represented steady leadership, fairness, and quiet strength. Whether standing on the football field, walking the halls of Calhoun High School, or guiding students and teachers as principal of Madison Elementary, Selph devoted his life to shaping young people through discipline, encouragement, and example. His journey from a small Texas railroad family to respected educator and coach reflected a lifelong commitment to service, athletics, and community. Though many remember him for his calm demeanor and dedication to education, his story also reveals the life of a talented athlete, devoted husband, and admired mentor whose influence stretched far beyond the classroom.

Melvin Leon Selph was born on June 17, 1929 in Chesterville, Texas to Madison Ezekial and Alma Tyler Selph. According to the 1930 census, his parents were aged 27 and 23 respectively having married at ages 19 and 15. His father’s occupation was listed as Section Foreman for the Railroad. Melvin was the youngest in the family at that time with two older brothers, Leonard and Gene, and one older sister, Lenora. Leonard died on November 6, 1931 at age 8 from strep throat and is buried in Sheridan, Texas. By the 1940 census, the family included another member, Janice, who was one year old. 

He graduated from Eagle Lake High School in 1947 and went on to earn his Bachelors in 1951 and Masters degrees in Education from Southwest Texas State College in San Marcos. While attending college, Melvin played on the Bobcat Football team for four years and was Captain of the team in 1950. On November 3, 1950, Melvin was listed as the starting Fullback for the Bobcats with a weight of 195 pounds. He was also mentioned as a Lone Star conference selection in the previous season and likely to give the opponents trouble. While enlisted in the Army at Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC), he played on the winning Comets football team who beat Camp Lejeune in the Cigar Bowl in Tampa, Florida on December 29, 1951.

On November 4, 1951 Melvin married Hazel Mae Seay in Luling, Texas. They had met while both were attending Southwest Texas State College. Hazel was working the desk in the library when Melvin came in for help. His children find it hard to believe that their athletic daddy went to the library but lucky for them, he did. When they married, Melvin was in the Army and Hazel was teaching in San Antonio. Their first child, Sheryl Kay, was born at BAMC in 1952 and cost $12. They went on to have two more children, David Alan and Teresa Ann. 

Staying true to his athletic roots, Melvin continued to play for the BAMC Comets and was on the roster of players in August 1952 in an upcoming game against the Dallas Texans. Married life must have agreed with him as his weight was up to 210 pounds. He wore the number 33 on his jersey. His name would appear many times in the San Antonio newspapers throughout the 1952 football season as a member of the BAMC Comets. Melvin was remembered in the Army as a compassionate “gentle giant” who would practice injections on grapefruit but never a person. 

By September 1955, Selph had crossed over to coaching and was starting his first season as head football coach at Yorktown High School in Yorktown, Texas. He had previously been the assistant coach in Mercedes. Based on a Victoria Advocate article, Coach Selph was optimistic that the Wildcat team would do well despite the rebuilding that needed to take place after critical player changes from the year before. The San Antonio Express News reported in April 1959 that the entire faculty at Yorktown Public Schools was re-elected to return for the 1959-60 term including Head Coach Melvin Selph. While coaching at Yorktown, one of his runners made it to state so Coach Selph bought him a brand new pair of red track shoes.

The Selphs moved to Seadrift in 1960 and then to Port Lavaca in 1961. By the 1963-64 school year, Melvin was coaching at Calhoun High School. He began his career in CCISD by teaching at Seadrift Schools, but was then moved to coaching at Travis Middle School and CHS. The Victoria Advocate March 5, 1964 edition mentions Coach Selph as hosting the 8th annual Sandcrab Relays. He also mentioned the rebuilding of the track team with only 4 lettermen returning. By the 1967 football season, he was assigned to coach the ends with a new coaching structure that used more specialized staff. Players remember Coach Selph as calm and fair. He never yelled, but encouraged the players to do their best.

In 1968, Melvin Selph became the assistant principal at Travis Junior High. This was the year that Calhoun High School moved into their new building on Highway 35 and the old high school became Travis. Both campuses are still housed in the same buildings. In 1970, Melvin became the principal at Madison Elementary. At the end of his first year, he was offered a three year contract to remain in that position. He would ultimately stay in this position for the next 18 years. Former Madison teacher Patty Shafer remembers Melvin Selph as an exemplary principal. She recalls a situation in her class with a student where Mr. Selph came to her room and calmly managed an unruly child. He inspired the type of principal she would become. Another former teacher, the late Anita Moore, loved working for Mr. Selph according to her daughter Sheryl Cuellar. He would retire from education in 1988.

During that time, his game of choice was golf. He participated in many local tournaments including the Hatch Bend Country Club Invitational Seafood Golf Tournament in May 1972 where he and partner Jack Hunt finished around the middle of the fourth flight. At the same tournament the next year, Selph and Hunt finished last in the fourth flight. They were redeemed in 1974 when they finished first in the fourth flight.

Besides golf, Melvin enjoyed photography. He volunteered for a year with CASA, but found the role too emotional for him. He mentored student teachers for the University of Houston-Victoria, continuing to grow educators. He was a member of the Calhoun County Retired Teachers Association and involved in the United Methodist Church of Port Lavaca. He was most proud that all three of his children followed him and Hazel into the teaching profession. 

Melvin lost his beloved wife Hazel on December 13, 1996. He died August 5, 2010. They are buried together in Greenlawn Cemetery.

For generations of Calhoun County students, coaches, teachers, and parents, the name Melvin Selph represented steady leadership, fairness, and quiet strength. Whether standing on the football field, walking the halls of Travis Junior High, or guiding students and teachers as principal of Madison Elementary, Selph devoted his life to shaping young people through discipline, encouragement, and example. His journey from a small Texas railroad family to respected educator and coach reflected a lifelong commitment to service, athletics, and community. Though many remember him for his calm demeanor and dedication to education, his story also reveals the life of a talented athlete, devoted husband, and admired mentor whose influence stretched far beyond the classroom.

Written by Jennifer Shafer Wyatt

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