Tim Selinske, one of the founding partners of INNOVA-Champion Golf Discs, passed away after a long battle with Langerhans’ Cell Histiocytosis. According to Innova, he had been undergoing treatment for the last eight months when his condition took a turn for the worse earlier last week. He died at 3am (California time) on Friday.
Tim and Mike had a 25-year relationship, which began in 1984 when Mike placed his first order for 100 discs with the infamous Berkeley Aquatic Park hot stamp. I don’t know specifically what the order included, but my guess is that the majority was those now highly coveted San Marino Rocs.
I last saw Tim at the Rancho factory in the Spring of 08, and prior to that during the summer the Worlds were held near our resort in Northern Wisconsin. He helped make the Fly Mart, which for us was a great big disc golf reunion, even more fun.
Every time I saw Tim he greeted me with an enormous bear hug, and he never stopped smiling. He was someone who was always interested in what I had to say, whether the conversation was about golf discs or our kids. Tim is probably the main reason why our pro shop features Innova Champion products exclusively. He developed a great company with a fantastic product, and we simply enjoyed doing business with him.
His passing is a tremendous loss for the disc golf community, and a personal loss for Mike and me. Tim was a friend.
FROM THE INNOVA WEBSITE:
Beginning with his days with the International Frisbee Association, and until his untimely death, Tim was a tireless promoter of disc sports in general and Disc Golf in particular. Tim was one of the four founding partners of INNOVA-Champion Discs and served as the company General Manager and spokesman.
Tim was a loving and dedicated family man. Engaging, warm, lovable, affable, friendly, loving, smiling, affirming, funny, fun loving and kind are some of the words that best describe Tim. Most of Tim’s energy went into making other people happy or feel good about themselves. Almost everyone liked Tim because he was so quick to give a smile and encouragement to them.
He was a joyous smiling presence who seemed to be able to brighten the spirits of anyone around him. His great good humor, generosity of spirit and his boundless enthusiasm for Disc Golf and life made knowing him an honor and a privilege.
As the voice and face of Innova over the years, Tim’s affability gave us a warm friendly persona that we cannot replace. The Frisbee family will miss him. Disc Golf will miss him. We were all richer for having known him. We will all be poorer for his passing. All of us will miss him more than words can tell.
He is survived by his wife, Sue and children, Connor, Kimberly and Kyle and brothers Tom and Joe, sister Mary and his mother Kathy. Our thoughts are with them in this terribly sad time
