Springfield storm chaser writes his own obituary, wants ashes shot into tornado

Springfield storm chaser Jim "Mad Dog" Sellars died Tuesday after living with a heart condition for several years.

Sellars was 64.

He wrote his own obituary, which described his youth, his work, his family and his passions, which were many.

Sellars said he grew up on St. Louis Street, watching traffic go by on Route 66, just 50 feet from his front door.

According to Sellars, life as a kid was filled with fond memories of family, sports and adventure — even breaking a few windows.

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"I became an Ice Cream dipper, a Butcher, a Policeman, a Phoneman, a Weatherman, a Storm Chaser and a fair Softball player," Sellars wrote.

Sellars was apparently more than just a "fair Softball player."

"I had a few tryouts with the Reds, Phillies and Cardinals," he wrote. "I was either too drunk or too hung over to do much good... But I had fun."

Sellars also discussed his health problems, and how he defied a doctor's prognosis made several years ago.

"My Doctor said I'd only live 2 more years," Sellars wrote. "I fooled that Son-of-a-gun HEE HEE."

Sellars's older brother is John Sellars, executive director of the History Museum on the Square. John recalled how his brother lifted the spirits of anyone he came into contact with.

"He was the best," John said of Mad Dog. "(I'm) very proud to be his older brother."

He called his brother Jim a "Renaissance Man."

"My wife said he was the smartest man she ever knew," John said. "I understand — she was right. Absolutely right."

Jim was more than just brains, though. John said Jim was quite the athlete when they were younger. He stood 6 feet, 7 inches, and played football, baseball, softball and, later, golf.

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"Hell of a ball player," John said. "If there was a ball and a stick, he was chasing it around someway."

Jim worked more than three decades for a telephone company, John said, and also served as a reserve police officer.

Weather and HAM radios were lifelong passions of Jim's, John explained, and his brother was a certified meteorologist.

For years he chased storms, but several years ago Jim's health began a steady decline, John said.

There was a back issue, John said, then a heart condition.

Jim spent his last years mostly confined to his bed, but even then he helped track storms and worked with the National Weather Service.

"He was independent as the dickens," John said.

According to John, Jim fielded calls from storm chasers across the country about the movement of weather.

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"He was like Tommy the Pinball Wizard," John said. "He could look at the radar and just know where the storm was headed."

John said meteorologist Ron Hearst of KY3 talked about his brother's passing in a Tuesday broadcast.

"It meant a lot to me and the family," John said.

According to John, it was just like his brother to write his own obituary, calling it "dying on his own terms."

John said that whenever he looks up at the clouds in the sky and see the weather break, he'll think of his brother Jim.

Jim's obituary thanked his family, his two ex-wives, his two children and his four grandchildren. He wrote humbly and humorously of his own failings and accomplishments.

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He ended his obituary outlining his post-mortem wishes. Jim said a group of storm chasers will launch his cremains into a tornado.

"That'll be fun!!!!" he wrote.