Gustav "Gus" Seelaus Kane

GUSTAV SEELAUS KANE (known as Gus) of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, and formerly of Madison, New Jersey, passed away peacefully on December 14, 2024, on Hilton Head Island. He was 89 years old. Gus was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on April 9, 1935, the son of Dr. Henry Katjetan Seelaus and Josephine Mahacek Seelaus. Dr. Seelaus was a surgeon at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, and his wife was head nurse in the tuberculosis ward. Both parents died before Gus turned three—Josephine of tuberculosis in 1935 and Henry in 1937 after contracting pneumonia. Gus and his two older brothers were then adopted by his aunt, Vilma Seelaus Kane, and her husband, Edward Charles Kane. Vilma died in 1940, and Edward Kane later married Pauline Marsden Kane. 

Gus is survived by his wife, Judith Virginia Kane (née Tintle), and two of their three children, Christopher Seelaus Kane and Whitney (Michael) Elizabeth Kane Gomez. Gus’s youngest daughter, Caroline Elizabeth Seelaus Kane, died of cancer on January 31, 2023, at age 46. Also surviving are five beloved grandchildren: Lauren Nicole Kane, Christopher William Kane, Isabel Kane Gomez, Alexandra Consuelo Gomez, and Charles Michael Gomez. Gus is also survived by sister-in-law Barbara Kane, nephews Henry (Carey) Kane, Edward (Alexandria) Kane, and Michael Kane, and nieces Jennifer (Greg) Kane Zook and Marilyn (Bill) Kane Monteith as well as their children Hunter, Elizabeth, and Abigail Kane; Edward, Victoria, and Julia Kane; Madison and Hartley Zook; and Madison Monteith. 

Gus was raised in Somerville, New Jersey, along with his older brothers, John DaCosta Seelaus Kane (deceased) and Henry Katjetan Seelaus Kane (deceased). After graduating from Somerville High School, Gus surprised his parents by enlisting in the United States Marine Corps in 1953 and spent most of his tour of duty on ships in the Mediterranean at the end of the Korean War. After completing his military service, Gus enrolled in Saint Peter’s College (now Saint Peter’s University), a Jesuit school in Jersey City, New Jersey, and graduated in 1960 with honors and a degree in Economics. He was a lifetime admirer of Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman’s Chicago school of economics and a mathematics whiz—Gus delighted his children and grandchildren with his ability to solve complicated math problems in seconds off the top of his head. He also never forgot a face, recognizing people from all points in his life at later times, including decades later. After graduation from college, Gus began a thirty-year career selling large-scale computer systems with the Data Processing Division of International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) and held many marketing and management positions in New Jersey and White Plains, New York. Gus earned multiple IBM Golden Circle awards, which recognized the top 1.5% of the sales force and traveled to Hawaii, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico for the award celebrations. After taking early retirement from IBM at age 55, Gus formed several small consulting firms with his major client Barnes & Noble and worked to address Y2K computer concerns. 

Gus and Judy lived for more than forty years in Madison, New Jersey, and at the Moore Estates in Morristown, New Jersey. Their lives changed forever when Chris, the apple of his father’s eye, was born. Chris was a champion in football, basketball, and baseball, including playing two varsity sports in college, and Gus relished supporting Chris from the sidelines, particularly during the years Chris played for Morristown Beard School. He was also a strong supporter of his daughters and enjoyed discussing business strategy with them and seeing their professional success. Gus, who did not miss Sunday mass for decades, was very active at Saint Vincent Martyr Catholic Church in Madison and led the altar servers. Contrary to the established practice at the time, Gus recruited, trained, and oversaw female altar servers, something that earned St. Vincent’s a rebuke which was promptly ignored. As of 1994, the Vatican ruled that it was, in fact, appropriate for women to serve the altar; today this is common practice. Gus was involved in multiple local civic and political groups, including the Madison Jaycees (formally known as the United States Junior Chamber of Commerce) and the Madison Republican Committee. He also served as president of an elementary school parent- teacher organization and as president of the Madison Little League. During his service with the Little League, many girls played alongside the boys, an innovative practice at the time. Gus’s well-recognized and booming voice served him well as umpire-in-chief, and he never shied away from making a dramatic call at home plate (something that his children were routinely reminded of by baseball-playing classmates the next day in school). Gus was a regular at CJ’s Deli on Park Avenue in Madison where he loved to take his children along for a ride when he cashed a check (in the pre-ATM era). Though known to take the local speed limits as simply a suggestion, Gus was involved in supporting the Madison Police force through an advisory board and would have loved to—in another lifetime—have served as a police officer (or a Jesuit priest). 

An avid lifetime Giants fan, Gus loved to bet with his son-in-law Michael on Giants-Eagles matchups. When he died, Gus and Michael were even. He played a weekly poker game with friends, and Judy distributed to his grandchildren the winnings from his final game played the day before his death. A dedicated friend and mentor to kids he felt needed extra support or encouragement, Gus was known to offer kindness to a baseball player from a single-parent home or his business card to a teenager whose family was going through a divorce. He was also known to dogs in houses across the country as the weakest link at any dinner table, surreptitiously sharing his meal with any dog patient enough to sit at his feet. Gus was a masterful bridge player and enjoyed playing with friends and teaching the game to his children and grandchildren, who were always amazed when he was able to call out who held which cards in the final hand of the game. 

Gus and his family traveled extensively. Notable trips included a voyage with family and friends to St. Petersburg, Russia, before the breakup of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, a trip to Sweden to visit Judy’s relatives from Uppsala, and a special journey to China. A lover of snorkeling and deep-sea fishing, Gus also enjoyed multiple trips to the Caribbean, the Bahamas, and Hawaii, as well as many countries in Europe, Patagonia, as well as Peru, the Canadian Rockies, Morocco, Turkey, and Greece, among other locations. A favorite vacation spot for the entire family was Little Dix Bay on Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands. 

In 2006, Gus and Judy retired to the Indigo Run golf community on Hilton Head Island. An active golfer for many years at Madison Golf Club, Gus played at the Indigo Run course and enjoyed speeding around the neighborhood with his grandchildren on his golf cart. He served on the board of the Indigo Run Community Owners Association. Gus was an active member of Saint Francis by the Sea Catholic Church and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Saint Francis Thrift Shop, a thriving operation that provides grants to Saint Francis’ church and school, as well as many local charities and organizations, such as the Boys & Girls Club of Hilton Head. He served as board chair of the Saint Francis Thrift Shop for nine years. 

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made to the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation (https://www.mcsf.org/ or 909 North Washington Street, Suite 400, Alexandria, VA 22314) or the Boys & Girls Club of Hilton Head Island (https://www.bgchiltonhead.org/ or P.O. Box 22267 Hilton Head Island, SC 29925). A Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Tuesday, January 28, 2025, at 10 a.m. at Saint Francis by the Sea Catholic Church in Hilton Head. His remains will be interred at a family plot at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Philadelphia.