Selma Frances Abdallah spent her early childhood in New York City, and the family moved to Oklahoma when the Depression destroyed her parents’ jobs in the garment industry. Going to school in Oklahoma she met Troy Bartlett, who was in the Army Air Corps and later the air force. In 1945, they married, and Selma Bartlett earned her degree from Hill Business College in Oklahoma City. She worked at a bank there until Troy was transferred at Nellis Air Force Base in 1954.
Almost immediately, she went to work for the brand-new Bank of Nevada branch in the brand-new city of Henderson. The old Basic Townsite had become a city in 1953 and its residents had big plans. She made a lot of them possible, especially after becoming one of Nevada’s first woman bank officers, and then branch manager. Bank of Nevada even ran an ad that said, "Selma's bank out in Henderson is not your typical run-of-the-mill bank. It's warm and personal because that's the way Selma and her bankers are. They're the kind of people who won't bounce your check if you make a mistake adding or subtracting and overdraw your account. And where other banks make it policy to require $5 to open a savings account, Selma's happy to open one for $1. (Her only policy is to treat her customers the way she'd like to be treated.) Selma's Bank is the Bank of Nevada in Henderson."
She became vice president of the National Association of Bankwomen. She taught banking at the community college. She trained generations of bankers and retired from Meadows Bank at the young age of 93. She had been in banking in southern Nevada for 67 years.
She had the chance to help build a city and a community, and she did. She was crucial to the development of the St. Rose hospital system that grew from the original location built in the 1940s. Her efforts led to the creation of numerous medical practices. She set up a construction loan for Congregation Ner Tamid, where she ultimately held her husband Troy’s memorial service. She was active in the Boys and Girls Club. She helped create a lot of residential developments. She worked for tariffs on titanium to help TIMET, then a major employer in Henderson.
She also was committed to education. She helped start Nevada State College, now Nevada State University. She and Troy set up scholarships at UNLV, especially in engineering, and ended up in the university’s Palladium Society for million-dollar donors. She was inducted into the school’s Nevada Business Hall of Fame and received the UNLV President’s Medal and the Silver State Award. The Clark County School District named an elementary school for her. Where else would it be located? Henderson, the town that Selma did so much to build.
