Edgar William Seay

Edgar William Seay, Jr., 79, son of Edgar William Seay, Sr. and Mildred Taylor Seay, died on February 19, 2021 in Dallas, Texas. “Junior”, as he was known to friends and family, was born on December 24, 1941 in Dallas, where his father was an instructor at Dallas Aviation School at Love Field. He spent his early years in Stillwater, Oklahoma where his father worked for the Civil Aeronautics Administration and the Defense Plant Corp. storing surplus aircraft at Hatbox Field in Muskogee. His family returned to Dallas in 1945 where his father again worked at Love Field, this time for Lockheed. In 1948, his family moved to Irving where his father opened M-A-L Hobby Shop (Model Aircraft Labs) in January of 1948 at 108 Lee St. in Irving where he and his family lived in an apartment in the back of the shop until later moving to a home at 915 Lucille. Junior graduated from Irving High School in 1960 and attended Arlington State College (now the University of Texas at Arlington) from 1961-63. He worked with his mother and father at M-A-L Hobby Shop until his mother died in 1994 and his father died in 2010. Junior continued to operate M-A-L Hobby Shop until it closed in 2019. At the time of its closing, M-A-L Hobby Shop was the second oldest business in Irving. It was recognized with a marker from the Irving Historical Society in 2011 and the neon sign from the front of the building is now at the Irving Archives and Museum. Generations of local residents were introduced to flying model aircraft, plastic models and model railroading at the M-A-L Hobby Shop and many were lifelong patrons. Junior and his father not only catered to local hobbyists, but also helped many school children with science and other school projects over the years and helped many Cub Scouts with their Pinewood Derby cars. M-A-L Hobby Shop was not only well known locally, but nationally and internationally specializing in saw cut balsa wood used in competition flying models all over the world and the shop had regular customers from many countries. M-A-L Hobby Shop also had its own line of balsa wood model airplane kits. Junior attended numerous International Plastic Modelers Society (IPMS) conventions and shows nationwide as a vendor and was a fixture not only at IPMS events but also at model railroading events and shows. He was a member of IPMS/USA for over 50 years with member number 834. He was a member of the local IPMS chapter, IPMS North Central Texas, and will be remembered for being a regular at events as well as for opening the shop for members after meetings. He was also a member of North Texas N-Track, a model railroad club that is still located in the M-A-L Hobby Shop building. He enjoyed model aircraft and model railroading and was an avid reader with a large collection of aviation, railroad and other historical books. He was also a prolific photographer, mainly of railroad subjects and several of his railroad photographs were published in books and magazines. His voluminous collection of railroad slides and photographs is now in the possession of the Museum of the American Railroad in Frisco, Texas. He was a judge for models at the State Fair of Texas and for several years threw small balsa wood gliders to the crowd in the Irving Fourth of July parade. Junior also enjoyed growing wildflowers, especially those varieties that attracted Monarch butterflies that he liked to watch and photograph. Junior is survived by his aunt, Patsy Belk of Ennis, Texas and several cousins.

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