James Seda

JAMES ROY "JIM" SEDA

Iowa City

James Roy "Jim" Seda, 81, of Iowa City and St. Charles, Ill., died Monday, Oct. 24, 2016, at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

A Funeral Mass will begin Saturday at 9 a.m. at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Iowa City. Burial will follow at St. Joseph Cemetery in Iowa City. Visitation will be Friday from 5 to 7 p.m. at Lensing's Oak Hill, 210 Holiday Rd., Coralville. A parish vigil service will begin at 7 p.m. Friday.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be directed to the James R. Seda Memorial Fund.

Born May 29, 1935, in Traer, Iowa, the son of Joseph and Rose (Boushka) Seda, Jim grew up in Traer and graduated from North Tama High School. He attended the University of Northern Iowa, received a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Iowa and studied history as a graduate student.

Serving in the U.S. Air Force in Bitberg, Germany, in the 1950s, he returned to Iowa to attend college on the G.I. Bill. He married Mary E. Lyman on Aug. 26, 1961, in Iowa City at St. Thomas More Catholic Church.

Jim was managing editor of the Daily Iowan until 1962, and was always very proud that he managed the paper during John Glenn's orbit of the Earth. He was honored with a Hancher-Finkbine Outstanding Student Award from the University of Iowa and was subsequently invited each year to the prestigious Finkbine Dinner.

He worked as a marketing executive for Nichols Homeshield for most of his career, and then for General Electric. Upon his retirement, he attended auctions and ran an eBay business, which he greatly loved.

Survivors include his wife, Mary; daughter, Karen Seda of Chicago and Iowa City; sons, Joseph Seda of Elk Grove Village, Ill., Thomas Seda of Fishers, Ind., and Patrick Seda of Senoia, Ga.; grandchildren, Erin, Zachary, Daniel, Elizabeth, Alexandria, Rebekah, Olivia, Jonathan and Natania; two sisters, Helen Finn of Waterloo and Dorothy Marxen of Davenport; and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; a son, Jeffrey; siblings, Frank Seda, Bessie Husak, Edward Seda, Fred Seda, Emma Kubik, Rosie Seda and Joseph Seda; as well as his beloved Yorkshire Terriers, Coco, Daisy, Duke and Daisy.

He loved the Iowa Hawkeyes and Chicago Cubs. He always said his dream job would have been to be the announcer at Wrigley field. When he recently moved back to Iowa from the Chicago area, he said, "Now I am home."

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