H. Jack Seltzer

Who was H. Jack Seltzer?

H. Jack Seltzer was a former Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and owner of Seltzer's Lebanon Bologna Company. Seltzer was first elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1957. He was the first Speaker of the Pennsylvania House from Lebanon County. He died on February 28, 2011 at the age of 88.

Harvey Jack Seltzer was born in Philadelphia, PA on August 12, 1922, and grew up in Harrisburg and Palmyra.

He attended high school at Mercersburg Academy before enlisting in the United States Navy, serving as a First Class Petty Officer in the Pacific during World War II. He met his wife Geneva Shepherd while stationed in Jacksonville, Florida. They married in 1945 and moved to Palmyra after the war.

After the war, Jack reopened the family business, Seltzer's Lebanon Bologna Company, which had been started by his father in 1902.

He was elected to the State House of Representatives in 1957 and served twenty four years, the last two years as Speaker of House. Jack liked to say that he had the same job as Benjamin Franklin, who also served as Speaker of the House of Representatives in Pennsylvania.

Jack and Ginny were married 65 years. They had four children. Michael Jack Seltzer, Craig Harvey Seltzer, Pamela Shepherd, and Patricia Wagoner. They have four grandchildren: Owen Michael Seltzer, Noah Michael Wagoner, Peter Austin Wagoner, and Geneva Esther Wagoner.