Robert A. Seeley, conscientious objector counselor, international peace activist, and writer, has died at 81

Robert A. Seeley, 81, of Philadelphia, former executive director of the Philadelphia-based Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors, lifelong international peace activist, owner of Desktop Resources, writer, and volunteer, died Friday, Oct. 4, of complications from age-associated issues at his home.

Born in Germantown Hospital and reared as a Quaker, Mr. Seeley met Ruth Ward at an international peace summit in Moscow in August 1968. They were there with others to work toward world peace, and something else happened, too.

“By the time our group had traveled, worked together, participated in seminars in Karelia, Baku, and Leningrad, we knew we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together working for international peace,” Ward said. So they did.

They got married and bought a house in Germantown, and Mr. Seeley joined the Philadelphia office of the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors in 1968 as a typist. He studied the dynamics of war and peace deeply, became an expert in Selective Service law and the military draft, and worked for 25 years as a counselor to fellow conscientious objectors and trainer to other counselors.

He wrote articles and edited the committee’s newsletter, and rose to executive director of the Philly CCCO in the 1990s. For decades, he and his wife collaborated with other peace activists, spoke at schools and other venues, and even hosted clients in their own home when necessary. The CCCO disbanded in 2009.

Mr. Seeley wrote letters to the editor of The Inquirer and articles for the Friends Journal, Pacifist Bulletin, and other publications. His Handbook for Conscientious Objectors was published in 1981, and he wrote the Draft Counselor’s Manual in 1982, Advice for Conscientious Objectors in the Armed Forces in 1984, and the Handbook of Nonviolence in 1986.

“His aim in all of his work was to explore complex situations and concepts but present them in ways that all readers could understand,” his family said in a tribute.

He was a conscientious objector to military service during the Vietnam War in 1966 and served instead as a social worker in a two-year public service program. In segregated Sumter, S.C., Mr. Seeley was moved by the racism and inequality he observed. So he founded a community center, a day-care center, and a Black newspaper. He assisted the local Black church in its outreach efforts and organized a baseball team for teenagers.

He was featured in The Inquirer several times, including just weeks before he met Ward in Moscow in 1968, and he said then that he chose to volunteer in South Carolina instead of abroad because “it would be hard to reconcile an overseas assignment considering the present social situation in America.”

Mr. Seeley embraced evolving computer technology over the years, and he founded Desktop Resources when he retired to advise nonprofits and others on production and administrative issues. “He lived out his beliefs, giving back to the community and helping to make the world a better place for everyone,” his family said in a tribute.

Robert Atkinson Seeley was born May 6, 1943. He grew up in Germantown and Andorra, and graduated from Friends Select School in 1961.

He walked in the March on Washington in 1963 and earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy at Earlham College in Indiana in 1965. He was active at Plymouth Friends Meeting when he was young and later at Germantown Friends Meeting. He and his wife lived briefly in West Philadelphia before moving to Germantown and having their daughter, Laura.

Mr. Seeley played acoustic guitar in a country blues band in college and wrote for the school newspaper. He shopped at Reading Terminal Market, whipped up memorable gourmet meals for family and friends, and cared for his cats.

He cheered for the Phillies and decorated his front porch on nearly every holiday. He was interested in the environment and public spaces, and active with the Friends of Vernon Park and other local groups and projects.

An avid reader, he wrote an unpublished novel about Sherlock Holmes. He and his wife traveled often to her native England.

“He was gentle and very thoughtful,” his daughter said. “He saw the good in people, and that guided everything he chose to do.”

In addition to his wife and daughter, Mr. Seeley is survived by other relatives. A sister died earlier.

A memorial meeting is to be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 16, at Germantown Friends Meeting, 47 W. Coulter St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19144.

Donations in his name may be made to Friends of Vernon Park, 5818 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19144.