Selina Stancliff

Selina Stancliff passed away in hospice care at her home on November 17, 2020 a day past her 97th birthday.  She was born in Chorley, England in 1923.  Her parents were Charles and Elizabeth (nee Astley) Woodward.  Chorley is located in Lancashire in the Northwest area of England.  She was the youngest of 6 children of which all siblings have predeceased her.  She had two brothers, Joseph and Leonard, and 3 sisters, Edna, Annie (Nancy) and Lily (Gigi).  Selina’s sisters visited her in the US from time to time.

During World War II American troops were stationed in Chorley.  There Selina met a young soldier. Richard Stancliff, from Baltimore, Maryland.  A year after the War, Selina came to America to marry her soldier.  They settled in Dundalk on Fairway and they lived the remainder of their lives there.  They have one son, Charles Richard (Ricky) who survives them.   Selina visited family and loved ones in England for the majority of her life traveling until around the age of 90.

In the 1960s Selina became the needlework instructor at Hutzlers in their  Eastpoint store.  She had learned these skills in her English upbringing.  She continued in her job until Hutzlers discontinued that service in Eastpoint.  She was encouraged to become a make-up consultant.  She was a devoted Hutzlers employee until she retired in the late 1980s.  Many customers remembered her British accent and kind, caring demeanor.

In 1952 she and her husband opened their home to young Bethlehem Steel engineers coming to Sparrows Point for the Looper Program.  One of her tenants, Lester Foster, became a dear friend and an adopted family member to Rick and Selina.  Lester married and his wife, Patricia, as well as their four children, Leslie, Caroline, Lester and Timothy became Selina’s American family.  Anyone who knows the Foster family also knows of their “Aunt Selina”!  

A graveside service was conducted in Gardens of Faith Cemetery in Rosedale, Maryland on November 21, 2020.