Melvin O. Ness

He was born on July 16, 1936 in Chicago. Mel was a member of Immanuel Baptist Church and Village Church of Gurnee for his adult life, where he served in multiple capacities, including Treasurer, Deacon and Trustee. Professionally, Mel worked for a local manufacturing plant for 40 years, with increasing responsibilities leading to company Controller. Mel is survived by his wife of 65 years (Sue), his sister Arlene (Don Winterbottom), two of his three sons Daniel (Susan) and Steven (Kim), and daughter-in-law Nancy (David). He is preceded in death by his parents Morris T Ness and Malfrid Malmin Ness, daughter-in-law Bonnie (Steven), and first-born son David (Nancy). He is also survived by 7 grandchildren: Diana (Nick), Kevin, Jamie (Tom), Joseph (Sally), Lydia (Andrew), Melissa (Joel), and Erik (Casey), and 9 great-grandchildren (Oliver, Theodore, Adelaide, Jane, Annie, Braelynn, Everly, Levi, and Bennett).

As a son of Norwegian immigrants, and married to a Swedish/Norwegian wife, Scandinavian culture was an important influence in Mel’s life. His humility, strong work ethic and service-oriented disposition were well recognized among his family, friends and acquaintances.

A visitation will be held 10-11 am on Wed, February 5th at Village Church of Gurnee, 1319 Hunt Club Rd, Gurnee, with a service to follow at 11am -12pm. This will be followed by a brief graveside service at Highland Memorial Cemetery, 33100 N Hunt Club Rd, with a light lunch to follow at Village Church.

For those wishing to make a memorial contribution, the family requests contributions be sent to Village Church of Gurnee in lieu of flowers.