Helping children was his mission
Twenty-five years ago, Ralph "Smiley" Seyller formed the Little People Playtime Program in Hampshire. On Friday, the Hampshire Park District held a dedication ceremony for its new preschool building, bringing full circle the program Seyller created.
A day later, Mr. Seyller, 82, died at Sherman Hospital in Elgin after a long illness.
"He was just a tremendous advocate for youth in the community, and his avenue toward reaching them was in the athletic and recreation fields," said Bob Whitehouse, executive director of the Hampshire Park District. "There's nothing Ralph wouldn't do for kids."
That included forming the Burlington Boys Club in 1947, an organization through which the big White Sox fan promoted athletics and other ventures for 17 years.
"Ralph started the club the summer I was going into high school," said Leroy Getzelman of Burlington, who asked Seyller to be the best man for his 1954 wedding.
"There are a lot of great memories. We used to take bus trips to Cubs or Sox games, and we'd let the kids vote on who to go see. Well, the kids always voted for the Cubs, but sometimes we'd have to go to see the White Sox because Ralph was such a Sox fan.
"He spent a lot of his own money and a heck of a lot of his own time helping kids."
Mr. Seyller was also one of the longtime organizers of the Hampshire Baseball Supper, a winter event that was held to keep the "Hot Stove" of baseball talk burning in the cold weather. He was responsible for many of the speakers, including Minnie Minoso and Bruce Froemming, coming back year after year.
"That was really his pride and joy," said Lloyd Stover, who helped Mr. Seyller organize the event. "He really did a lot to run that and keep it going for a lot of years. "He was a promoter and he got kids together. Everyone talked so highly of Ralph and people had so much respect for him."
Mr. Seyller was equipment manager at St. Charles High School for 25 years before retiring from that position in 1980.
He then became program director for the Hampshire Park District. In 2002, East Park in Hampshire was renamed in his honor.
A 1943 graduate of Burlington High School, he was inducted into the Central High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003.
"He was really a popular guy with a lot of people, and he never had a bad word to say about anyone," said longtime St. Charles High School boys basketball coach Ron Johnson. "A lot of people looked at him as a second father. He touched a lot of people, and he just loved every bit of it."
A longtime Democratic precinct committeeman, Mr. Seyller is survived by his wife, Catherine, as well as four children, two brothers and two sisters.
Visitation will be from 3 to 8 p.m. today at Zion United Methodist Church in Hampshire with services scheduled for 11 a.m. Wednesday at Cornerstone Methodist Church in Plato Center.
Memorial contributions in his name may be made to the Smiley Baseball Field in Burlington or the Little People Playtime Program in Hampshire.