James Sellers, who tirelessly strove to educate youth in the region and a new generation of school teachers, died Aug. 28. He was 67.

Sellers served part-time at Virginia Tech as an assessment coordinator and clinical faculty member in Educational Leadership in the School of Education.

A Virginia Tech alumnus, Sellers earned a bachelor’s degree in geography, a master’s in social studies education, and a doctorate in curriculum and instruction.

Sellers began his career in education as a social studies teacher at Blacksburg High School. He served as principal of Price’s Fork Elementary and Blacksburg Middle and in various administrative roles in Montgomery County Public Schools before retiring from the school division.

Following Sellers’ death, the Montgomery County School Board directed staff to place a memorial bench in his honor outside of administrative offices, according to a Roanoke Times article.

In addition to his roles at Virginia Tech, Sellers educated teachers and principals as an adjunct faculty member at Radford University.

Sellers also served as the executive director of the Western Virginia Public Education Consortium in Radford. Most recently, he traveled across the nation and globe as an instructor and assessor for the National Center for Biomedical Research and Training.

He is survived by his wife of 41 years, Charlotte Pauley Sellers, and by his sons, Christopher Keeling Sellers of Washington, D.C., and Cameron Moorefield Sellers of Blacksburg. He is also survived by his sister, Tine Brown of Chatham, Virginia; his brother, Homer Evans (Faye) of Halifax, Virginia; a brother-in-law, Richard Pauley (Sandy) of Buchanan, Virginia; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.

To learn more about Sellers and the lives he touched through education, read the Roanoke Times article titled “Jim Sellers: ‘A tremendous influence on education.’”