Rita Hodge Sellers, 84, nurse, health administrator, educator

Rita Hodge Sellers, 84, a longtime nurse, health administrator and educator, died Wednesday, Nov. 5, at Normandy Farms Estates retirement center in Blue Bell.

Mrs. Sellers was known by family and friends as a strong mentor who was passionate about helping others, recalled her daughter, Suzanne Rita Sellers. She described her mother as someone who worked to keep herself healthy and whose favorite hobby was traveling.

"She visited Rome, China, and Africa," said Suzanne Sellers. "I still remember when she and my dad took me to Paris as a graduation present when I was in college. She loved to travel. She still walked three miles a day up until she turned 70."

Born Feb. 5, 1930, in Axton, Va., Mrs. Sellers earned four degrees throughout her nursing and education career. She earned her diploma from the St. Philip School of Nursing in Richmond, Va., in 1950; a bachelor's degree in nursing education at Temple University in 1955; a master's in public health nursing administration from Columbia University and a doctorate in urban education from Temple University in 1984.

She moved in 1952 to Philadelphia, where she worked as the head nurse of Philadelphia General Hospital and a supervisor in public health nursing for the city Department of Health.

In 1966, she started work at Thomas Jefferson University, where she began as an associate professor in the department of baccalaureate nursing.

Mrs. Sellers moved to Montgomery County Community College in 1983 and helped establish its nursing department, which she served as chairwoman. She was instrumental in its gaining accreditation by the National League of Nursing, an organization for faculty nurses that offers testing services and research grants.

Throughout her teaching career, and as a resident of Montgomery County in 1972, Mrs. Sellers served on community boards such as the Mayors Committee on Health Care and the Visiting Nurse Association of Eastern Montgomery County Inc. She was also the first African American woman to chair the Montgomery County Board of Health and served between 1990 through 2010.

For 42 years she lived in Blue Bell. Her husband of 58 years, Forrest Webb Sellers Sr. of Philadelphia, died in 2011.

In addition to her daughter, she is survived by sons Forrest Webb Sellers Jr. and Clay Burrell Sellers.

A memorial service is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 22, at the Second Baptist Church of Germantown on Germantown Avenue and Upsal Street.