George Kimbro Seelig of Souderton, whose family has owned and operated Cardinal Camera in Lansdale for 81 years, died Saturday evening, Nov. 24, after a battle with cancer. He was 79.
His father, George Henry Seelig, was a silk engineer at Dexdale Mills. But the elder George also was a photography hobbyist, starting as a teen by going door to door taking pictures of immigrants for them to send home. He opened Seelig Camera Shop, one of the first Kodak dealerships in 1937, in West Point, shortly before moving to Susquehanna Street in Lansdale.
Son George K. Seelig, who graduated from North Penn High in 1957, also was a textile scientist. But he took over the struggling photography shop from his father in the 1960s, rechristened it Cardinal – because, he said, he liked the color red – and built it into a successful camera chain with locations today in Montgomery Mall, King of Prussia, Glen Mills, and as far as Charlotte, NC.
The main location remains where it has been since the 1960s, at 810 W. Second St. in Lansdale.
"People say, ‘Are you a photographer?’ No. I’m an entrepreneur. I’m a businessman. I sell stuff,” he said in an interview last year. Did he take pictures? "Never!” he answered, laughing. "My wife took all the pictures in our albums. I developed them.”
But he took particular pride in the expertise his staff brought to each customer, a personal touch that helped the shop thrive in the Internet age. "They’re really knowledgeable. Some of our people have been in this business for 50 years, some of these people started with me. They take time with the customer,” he said. "People say, ‘I love Cardinal,’ and that’s a really good feeling.”
George K. Seelig and his son Kurt, who continues to operate Cardinal Camera, were honored as Lansdale’s Business of the Month in December 2017. His wife, Elaine, died in February of 2017; she was a teacher for 30 years, including York Avenue Elementary and Calvary Baptist Christian Day School.
Among survivors are sons Kurt and his wife Grace, Craig and his wife Karen, and Todd and his wife Edith; 10 grandchildren; and sisters Lucille Smith and Elizabeth Seelig. Funeral services will be Thursday at Williams-Bergey-Koffel Funeral Home, 667 Harleysville Pike, Telford, with viewing from 9 to 10:45 am, and services at 11.
