Yvonne Selke and her daughter, Emily, parishioners of Sacred
Heart Church in Manassas, were two of the three Americans
killed in the Airbus jet that crashed March 24 in the French
Alps. The third American was Robert Oliver Calvo, 37, a
married father of two who lived in Spain.
Raymond Selke of Nokesville confirmed his wife, 58, and
daughter, 22, were among the 150 people who died on the
Germanwings flight from Spain to Germany. The Selkes also
have a 27-year-old son, Trevor, of Richmond.
A memorial Mass will be offered for Emily and Yvonne April 22
at Sacred Heart Church at 11 a.m. If their remains are found,
a private funeral and burial will be held at a later date.
“They will obviously be very missed,” said Raymond in a brief
interview March 25. “There is a huge gap, a huge hole that
will be difficult to fill.”
Too devastated to provide additional information, the family
released a statement the day after the crash.
“Our entire family is deeply saddened by the losses of Yvonne
and Emily Selke, two wonderful, caring, amazing people who
meant so much to so many,” it said. “At this difficult time
we respectfully ask for privacy and your prayers.”
According to Father Michael J. Bazan, pastor of Sacred Heart,
the mother and daughter were committed to their parish and
faith. He said parishioners are lifting up countless prayers
on behalf of the Selke family.
“They both were wonderful people,” said Kathleen Burr,
director of faith formation at Sacred Heart. “They were
always here, always wanted to help.”
A parishioner of Sacred Heart since 1993, Yvonne was a
volunteer in the faith formation program.
She had helped in the parish library and was a “prayer
listener.” Children from the parish memorized prayers, and
Yvonne would listen as they recited them, said Burr, adding
that she was “a gentle and kind woman.”
Emily attended Woodbridge Senior High School and was a 2013
honors graduate of Drexel University in Philadelphia, where
she majored in music industry.
She sang in the Sacred Heart children’s choir when she was
young and was a “lovely, bright girl,” said E.J. Cochran,
music director.
Emily was confirmed at the parish in 2006 and was a member of
the middle school social service club. She also participated
in a parish work camp.
While at Drexel, Emily served as vice president of the
school’s Zeta chapter of the Gamma Sigma Sigma sorority.
“Zeta is deeply mourning the loss of (a) friend and alumna,”
said Alyse Weaver, president of the Zeta chapter. A message
on the sorority’s Facebook page said Emily “embodied the
spirit of Gamma Sigma Sigma. As a person and friend, Emily
always put others before herself and cared deeply for all
those in her life.”
Emily’s LinkedIn profile said she was a community manager at
Alexandria’s Carr Workplaces and had previously worked as a
manager with the Pittsburgh Fringe Festival and as a
performing arts programming assistant for the Lorton Art
Foundation. She also was a lifetime member of the Girl
Scouts.
Yvonne was a contract employee with Booz Allen Hamilton in
Washington who worked on-site in support of the National
Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.
“Every death is a tragedy, but seldom does a death affect us
all so directly and unexpectedly,” said Robert Cardillo,
director of the NGA, in a statement. “All of us offer our
deepest condolences and will keep her family and her
colleagues in our thoughts.”
In a phone interview March 31, Father Bazan said he’d
recently spoken with Raymond.
“Trevor and Raymond are doing OK, although of course filled
with sadness,” he said.
“I ask that people keep them and all the survivors who’ve
lost family members and friends in the crash in their
prayers.”
