John Rutherford Seydel

The funeral service will be held Sunday, November 3 at 1:00PM at Patterson’s Spring Hill, 1020 Spring Street in Atlanta, followed by burial at Arlington Cemetery, and a reception at the Seydel home.

John, the son of Paul Bernard Seydel of Brussels, Belgium and Mildred Woolley Seydel of Atlanta, was born May 1918 in Jersey City, New Jersey and lived in Nitro, West Virginia until the age of four. His family moved then to Atlanta, where he was raised. He was among the very first students of Mrs. Eva Edwards Lovett, the founder of The Lovett School, whom he admired as an educator who “made learning fun.” He attended Tech High and studied chemical engineering at Georgia Tech in preparation for his career at Seydel- Woolley, the textile chemical company founded by his fatherDr. Paul Seydel and uncle, Dr. Vasser Woolley, Sr.

Managing Seydel-Woolley’s manufacturing, he led the company in supplying vital chemicals to the U.S. war effort in the forties, and later as President he expanded its markets into paper, mining, paint and adhesive chemistries. John helped found AZ Products in Lakeland, Florida and then merged the two companies to form AZS Chemicals, later acquired by Toyo Soda of Japan.

From the age of twenty John devoted his life to the family company, working his way up from the lab, sales and finance, to become CEO inn 1962. The company merged with AZ Products of Lakeland, Florida to become AZS and was sold to Toyo Sota of Toyo, Inc. in 1980.

He was a good listener and was beloved by his employees. He enjoyed playing the piano, working out popular tunes by ear, and could always be counted on to play at parties. He maintained his sense of humor to the very end. The night before his passing, he was singing Ramblin’ Wreck with his great grandchildren.

John was a loving, generous and patient soul, a devoted parent, grandfather and great-grandfather. It was his greatest pleasure to host his growing family for beach vacations at Sea Island or Kiawah Island, a tradition that has kept his family closely bonded throughout the years.

He was married to Jane Reynolds Seydel for forty-six years and together they had four children, After Jane’s death in 1983 John married his second wife of twenty-eight years, Mildred Blalock Hunt Seydel.

John became a member of the Piedmont Driving Club in 1939. He was also in the Rotary Club for many years, and joined the Thunderbird Club with his second wife Millie, whose “dowry” included a 1956 Thunderbird convertible.

He is survived by his four children Elizabeth (Buffy) Seydel Morgan, Scott O’Sullivan Seydel, Susan Seydel Cofer and Mildred (Mimi)Seydel, their spouses Pat Mitchell (Scott), Carl H.Cofer (Susan) and Guy H. Hunt (Mimi), twelve grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren and one great great-grandchild.

He will be missed by many friends as well as family members, and especially by his dedicated caregivers who surrounded him with love.

In addition to his wives, he is predeceased by his brother, Paul Vasser Seydel, and a grandson, Stuart Hayman Hunt.

In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.