There’s an old adage, adopted from the title of a Thomas Wolfe novel that states, “You can never go home again.” At 84, Jeannie Seely says you can – and she did. But not without a bit of trouble. While preparing to head home following a special event honoring “Miss Country Soul” in her native state of Pennsylvania, Seely was briefly hospitalized for acute diverticulitis and dehydration.
“It had not crossed my mind to visit a hospital on my trip home, but when it became necessary, it was yet another opportunity to experience Pennsylvania hospitality,” explains Seely. “I could not have received better care or more respect than I did at St. Clare Hospital in Pittsburgh or the courtesy shown at Pittsburgh International Airport. The kindness is appreciated and I’m very proud to call the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania my birthplace.”
The country legend is now home in Nashville and on the road to recovery.
Seely, born in Titusville, PA, and raised on a farm outside nearby Townville, was just eleven years old when she first sang on Meadville’s WMGW radio station and 16 when she sang on WICU television in Erie.
For all the accolades she’s since received – including a Grammy Award, Star on the Music City Walk of Fame and legendary Grand Ole Opry status – Seely has never forgotten her hometown roots. Likewise, the borough of Townville (Pop. 322) is proud of its star and new “Home of Jeannie Seely” signs were recently unveiled there.
On Monday, July 29, the sign unveiling ceremony was held at the Townville Fire Station where ironically Seely first sang in front of a crowd. The ceremony was a standing room only event as friends, school classmates, area residents, and fans crowded together to honor Seely. “It’s so great to be back in my hometown,” she said at the event. “I just can’t believe what y’all did to put this together.”
“As I have said so many times throughout my career, even though I didn’t get home that often, I would hear from all of you,” Seely added. “Whenever I hear from home, it always makes me feel so welcome.”
Bluegrass group Cutter & Cash and The Kentucky Grass performed “Farm In Pennsyltucky,” one of Seely’s songs and then introduced Seely. She had high praise for the band, for which she is the producer and thanked its members for the part they played in bringing her back home.
State Rep. R. Lee James (R-64th) and State Rep. Kathy Rapp (R-65th) were on hand to honor Seely with a PA House of Representative Citation. James read the proclamation, and Rapp shared a memory of hosting and honoring Seely a few years prior in the State Capitol Building.
Cutter & Cash and The Kentucky Grass performed a new song, written by Seely along with PA musician Conrad Fisher, titled “Take Me Back To Pennsylvania.” Immediately following the song, Seely unveiled one of two road signs that will be placed on PA Route 408, at each end of the borough. The signs read: “Home of Jeannie Seely, Grammy Awarded Grand Ole Opry Legend, Class of 1958.”
Brennan Cruce, one of the Cutter & Cash and The Kentucky Grass band members and owner of a Marion, KY sign business, made the new signs which incorporate Seely’s school colors.
“I’m so thrilled about this sign,” said Seely during the ceremony, “and let me say I appreciate so much my classmates, my graduating class of 1958. They’re the ones who originally put the signs up for me. Since they were deteriorating, it was decided they needed to be replaced. I’m so grateful to Cutter, Cash and their group for putting this together and making it happen.”
While returning to her hometown area, Seely also visited the Drake Well Museum located in her birthplace of Titusville – which had become the birthplace of the oil industry when Col. Edwin Drake drilled the first oil well there in 1859. Seely participated in the centennial celebration in 1959, and she donated items worn during that event to the museum which has now placed them on display. A private tour of the Drake Well Museum and Park was arranged by Sarah Bell, Curator at the Drake Well Museum which is operated by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.
Later, Seely met with Kelly Anderson Gregg, President of the Titusville Historical Society, and Abbe Watson-Popescu, Project Manager for the Oil Region National Heritage Area, and she donated memorabilia, artifacts, photographs, documents and a stage outfit to the Titusville Historical Society and their Heritage Center in Titusville. Seely also met with Josh Sherretts, Executive Director of the Crawford County Historical Society and Kim Sherretts, Curator and Archivist, and likewise donated items for their permanent exhibit and archives.
While in Titusville, Seely stopped by the Titusville Trust Company, the bank where she worked for three years while singing at local clubs like the Elks and American Legion. Seely also made visits to The Arcade, a diner in operation since the 1920s where she would eat lunch while working at the bank and to the Titusville YWCA where she lived at one time.
“It’s always wonderful when I get a chance to come back and I never want to miss the opportunity to tell everybody here that I appreciated their support all through my career,” says Seely.