Jim Selgeby

James Selgeby, age 81 of Revillo, SD, passed away on August 31, 2023.

A graveside service will be held on Saturday, September 9, 2023, at 11:00 a.m. at Milbank City Cemetery. All friends and relatives are invited to attend.

 Jim was born on August 13, 1942, in Evanston, Illinois to Harvey and Muriel (Kimball) Selgeby. The family soon moved to a farm northeast of Revillo. Jim graduated from Revillo High School in 1960, where he enjoyed participating in football, basketball and track and field.

Jim began college at South Dakota State University in the fall of 1960. On October 20, 1961, he was united in marriage to Charlotte (Zahn). Jim graduated from SDSU in 1966. The couple then moved to Columbia, Missouri, where he attended the University of Missouri, and he earned his master’s degree in 1968.

In the fall of 1968, they moved to Mobridge, South Dakota, where Jim worked for the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFW). In the summer of 1970, Jim was transferred to the USFW Biological Station in Ashland, Wisconsin, where he remained until his retirement in 1995. Much of his work dealt with the restoration of lake trout in Lake Superior. Jim has many scientific papers published and has been cited thousands of times. He was involved in a collaborative effort between the USFW and the Russian Academy of Science in a joint effort to develop a research program on Lake Baikal similar to the Lake Superior program Jim developed and implemented. Through this collaboration, Jim traveled to Russia and Siberia and hosted a scientific team from Siberia at the Ashland station. While employed by the USFW, Jim was awarded an honorary doctorate from Michigan State University in 1994.

In August 1971, Jim and Charlotte welcomed a daughter Laura Lynne.

In 1999/2000 Jim and Charlotte purchased land and built a new home west of Revillo on the Yellowbank River.

In 2000-2001 Jim was contracted by Yellowstone National Park to develop a program to restore the native cutthroat trout in Yellowstone Lake.

Throughout their marriage, they enjoyed hunting, fishing, attending high school sporting events and trapping. They enjoyed selling traps and antiques for 16 years in Spirit Lake, IA, and traveling in their 5th wheel to various national parks. Jim particularly enjoyed buying, selling and collecting antique traps.

Jim is survived by his wife, Charlotte, of 61 years; his daughter, Laura of Richland Center, WI; his sister, Lorna Johnson, Mobridge, SD; brother-in-law, Roger Engebretson, Sioux Falls, SD; brother-in law, James Fauver, Visalia, CA; sister-in-law, Gloria Zahn, Vancouver, WA; brother-in-law, Bradley (Shirley) Zahn, Brandon, SD; brother-in-law, Randy (Peggy) Zahn, Esko, MN; and many nieces, nephews and friends.

Jim was preceded in death by his parents: Harvey and Muriel; sisters: Mary Engebretson and Karen Bucholtz; sisters-in-law: Beverly Fauver and Karen Omahen; brother-in-law, Chuck Zahn; and nephew, Delmer Dale Zahn.

Condolences may be sent to Mundwiler Funeral Home, PO Box 511, Milbank, SD, 57252 and they will direct them to the family. Online condolences may be sent below this obituary.