John Edward Mellor, Jr.

John Edward Mellor died May 29, after a nine month battle with brain cancer. He was 84.

Mellor was born Sept. 8, 1931 in San Francisco, the eldest of two children of Florence and John Mellor. His youth was spent in the Bay Area where he battled a birth defect with the medical support provided by Shriner’s Hospital. As a teenager, the family relocated to Livermore in 1947 where he helped run the family chicken ranch and graduated from Livermore High School in 1951. Following high school, Mellor was hired at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory where he worked in various positions for over 41 years.

In 1961, Mellor was introduced to Marilyn Gelber at her home in San Francisco. The two were married in 1963 and soon started their family in Livermore, having two children and becoming involved in their local church. Mellor depended heavily on his faith in Jesus Christ and he was active in his church for many years. Over the years, he enjoyed bowling in adult leagues at Dublin Bowl and Granada Bowl, he was a soccer coach, taeam manager and a tireless transporter of kids to and from practices and games all across Northern California.

Mellor was a loving husband, father, grandfather, friend and coworker to all. He is survived by his loving wife of 53 years, Marilyn, daughter Melissa, son Greg (Samya) and grandchildren, Andrew, Hannah, Michael, Shay and Reese. He was predeceased in death by his parents, John and Florence Mellor, and his sister Lillas Heron.

A private service was recently held. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Shriner’s Hospitals for Children – Northern California, 2425 Stockton Blvd, Sacramento, CA 95817, or to the American Cancer Society, 1700 Webster Street, Oakland, California 94612.