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Sellingsloh was born to Henry and Hulda Knipling on Nov. 12, 1912, in Calhoun County, Texas, the last child of her parents, who were cotton farmers. Sellingsloh, with her five brothers and four sisters spent her childhood working the fields.
After graduating from Port Lavaca High School as Class President in 1931, she attended Draughan's Business College in San Antonio. She was a drafting employee and a secretary for a title company as a pre-law student in Texas Lutheran College. She graduated from Houston Law School in 1939, and passed the Texas bar in 1940. She was also employed a number of years with the Foh's Oil Company.
After marrying August Sellingsloh, a World War II lieutenant, in 1943 in Baltimore she became an assistant engineer with the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. After the war ended in 1945, Hulda, her husband, and two children moved to Beacon. At the age of 50, Hulda began studying art and soon became a successfully known artist.
Retirement years in Santa Fe were spent painting and doing charity work. Later in Texas, she continued to paint and write poetry until her husband's death in 1998.
Since 2004, Hulda has lived with son, John Sellingsloh in Hopewell Junction near her daughters, Susan Sellingsloh, Marian Sellingsloh, Ellen Allen; her granddaughters, Marie and Abigail; and her son-in law, Bruce Allen.
The Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Saturday at 11:15 a.m. at St. Mary, Mother of the Church, 103 Jackson Street, Fishkill. Interment will follow at Glenwood Cemetery in Houston.
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