The Selman family would like to celebrate the life of Kathleen (“Leyla”) Selman by creating a memorial fund to:
provide scholarships to students in Turkiye based on academic achievement through TEV (Turkish Education Foundation) and
support women’s causes through the KAMER Foundation.
Kathy Selman was a real estate agent in the greater Philadelphia region. Earlier in her career, she worked for the City of Philadelphia. Kathy’s father, Müfit Selman, emigrated from Turkiye to the United States in the late 1940s, later marrying Agnes M. Selman.
Kathy was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1951 and is survived by her daughter, Leyla An Withrow. She was fluent in Turkish and had strong personal and family ties to Turkiye. Kathy visited Istanbul many times, often accompanied by her daughter, Leyla. Before her passing, she was in the process of planning another trip.
Kathy cared deeply about education and the advancement of Turkish society, and was particularly focused on helping those in need. Further, she had a significant interest in combatting socioeconomic inequality, particularly the barriers women face in her ancestral home country.
Kathy was close to her Turkish cousins (Deniz, Cengiz and Filiz Selman; and their immediate families, Asli Selman, Karen Selman and Selin, Taylan and Leyla Selman). She had a special place in her heart for the Bosphorus and Istanbul life.
She will be sorely missed and always remembered by her family and friends.
