Obituary of Ronald Seldon O'Donnell

Ronald Seldon O’Donnell was born in the Shoal Creek Valley section of St Clair County where his family of eight brothers and one sister farmed the land and ran the O'Donnell Grist Mill. At the age of eighteen, Seldon left the valley for the first time as the fifth brother from the O’Donnell family to fight in WWII where he saw action in France, Austria, and Germany as a part of the Army’s 781st Tank Battalion. Seldon was awarded the Bronze Star for heroism. All of the O’Donnell brothers returned safe from the conflict. In 1946 he married the love of his life, Doris Machen. They had a son and a daughter and eventually settled in Linden, Alabama where they lived for 44 years . There enjoyed a long career with the James River Paper Company. Seldon and Doris were active contributors to the Linden community and were members of Linden Baptist Church where they made innumerable friends. During his years in Linden, Seldon maintained his connections to Shoal Creek through his parents, the family home place and mill site, over 60 years of O’Donnell reunions, and eventually the development of land in the Shoal Creek section of Neely Henry Lake. In 2003 Seldon and Doris returned to the valley he loved where he built his retirement home on the lake. As a member of Greensport Baptist Church, Seldon again became an active member of the valley community always maintaining his old friends while making new ones throughout the area. He would often relate the history of the valley and the evolution of the families who lived there. Seldon passed away peacefully at his home on July 16, 2013. A gentle, kind, loving family man, who was proud of his three grandsons and six great-grandchildren. He will always be part of those he touched. He was truly and exemplary member of “The Greatest Generation”.