He was born Sept. 17, 1929, the son of Elmer Edward and Emma J. May Mellies.

He attended Overbrook schools and was a 1948 graduate of Overbrook High School. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1948 to 1953, including time in Guam during the Korean War.

He then worked for the U.S. Navy Atomic Energy Commission in Albuquerque, N.M., and later was a meat cutter with Leonard Meat Company in Topeka. He also worked for Kroger Grocery Store in Dayton, Ohio. He then was the meat department supervisor for the Country Mart in Ottawa until his retirement in 1991.

Mr. Mellies was a member of the American Legion’s Dorsey-Liberty Post 14 and the VFW’s Alford-Clarke Post No. 852, both in Lawrence. He also was a member of the Travelers Protection Assn.

Mr. Mellies married Pauline A. Moneymaker on March 16, 1957, in Miami, Okla. She survives of the home.

He also is survived by a brother, Richard Mellies, of Auburn.

Friends may call from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday. The family will receive friends after 1 p.m. Friday.

The family suggests memorials to the Oncology Department at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, sent in care of the funeral home.