Sellin, Bertilda
SELLIN, Bertilda Velásquez
Bertilda Velásquez Sellin passed away on January 20th, 2022, surrounded by her family.
She was born on April 22, 1925 in Las Mesitas del Colegio, high in the mountains of Colombia to a family of tenant coffee farmers. The only girl of five brothers, she was orphaned at a young age. Her dream of coming to America was realized in 1951 when she was offered the chance to move to New York City as the paid companion of a Colombian diplomat's wife. Far from her beloved homeland, she resonated with the freedoms and opportunities for women in America and became a citizen in 1957. She remained a proud and dedicated American all her life, and happily participated in the democratic process. In New York City, she fell in love with and married a French immigrant, Amédée Jean Sellin in 1958. They eventually settled in Florida, where they raised three daughters, Louise, Sandra, and Jacqueline, and a son Bernardo.
Bertilda was shaped by her humble childhood on a coffee plantation, and was most at home in nature. She loved and honored plants and animals, and was keenly aware of the struggles of the world's poor and disadvantaged. She fulfilled many dreams in her life, as the first woman in her family to learn to read and write, graduate from high school and college, and travel the world, but her greatest joy in life was the love that she cultivated through her children and grandchildren.
Bertilda's passions included gardening, cooking, sewing, adopting stray animals, helping the less fortunate, but most of all doting on her grandchildren. Fittingly, her birthday fell on Earth Day, and in honor of her boundless love for nature, a celebration of her life will be held that weekend (April 22-24) in her longtime home of Dunwoody, Georgia. Details will follow.
In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations be made in honor of Bertilda V. Sellin to causes dear to her heart, children and animals in need.
Children International https://www.children.org
Furkids Animal Rescue and Shelter https://furkids.org/
