I found more information last night...
First off, I have several selectables on the screen (no less than 5 - more sometimes because of an inline-formset). Many of my lists have names (Last, First) in them. When my form has an item that starts at the top of the alphabet (Abbot, Joe) it works fine. When my item has a name at the end of the alphabet (Zimmer, Jane) that is when I get the "None". The strange thing is, if the first selectable does not find it's item, none of them do. The workaround sequence I mentioned in my original post makes it work again.
I do think I am forcing an autofocus, so I will look into the link you sent. Thanks!