Joel P. Mellis

Joel Paul Mellis, 91 years old, passed away on February 18, 2026, surrounded by his loving family in Stamford, Connecticut. Born on July 23, 1934, Joel, a native New Yorker and lifelong Yankees fan, graduated from Stuyvesant High School and New York University. After earning a law degree from Harvard Law School, Joel worked for the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C. and Raytheon in Boston, before returning to New York, where he joined GTE’s legal department, rising to become Corporate Secretary and President of Shareholder Services. Joel served his country in the US Army and was stationed at Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina.

Most importantly, upon his return to Manhattan, Joel was introduced to a young social worker, Ellen Steinam, whom he met as she stepped off the train and into his life at Grand Central Station. Wed on July 2, 1967 in White Plains, New York, they spent the next 58 years side-by-side, traveling, returning often to the pink sands of Bermuda, where they honeymooned, raising their children, Jon, James, and Elizabeth, with wit and wisdom, and delighting in their five grandchildren.

For more than five decades, Joel generously served his community. In Stamford, he helped revitalize downtown as a member of the Urban Renewal Commission. He tirelessly advocated for early education on the boards of the Children’s Learning Centers of Fairfield County and the Roxbury Community Association, supporting the Roxbury Nursery School and neighborhood initiatives. In his retirement, Joel only increased his activism, arbitrating for the New York Stock Exchange for 15 years and teaching at the University of New Haven. As a member of the International Executive Service Corporation, he spent months in the Czech Republic, offering economic counsel to businesses in the former Soviet Union. Joel was also a founding member of the International Senior Lawyer’s Project. Sharing his knowledge with a twinkle in his eye, Joel undoubtedly made the world a better place.

Joel is preceded in death by his parents, Samuel and Yetta Mellis. He is survived by his wife, Ellen, and their three children, Jon Mellis (Allison), James Mellis (Anna), and Elizabeth Tumminello (Michael), and his five grandchildren, Tim, Will, Emme, Max, and Josephine, along with his extended family.

A funeral service will take place at Leo P. Gallagher & Son Funeral Home, 2900 Summer Street in Stamford, Connecticut, on Sunday, March 1st at noon. Visitation will precede the service at 11 am.

Memorials may be given to the Children’s Learning Centers of Fairfield County and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York. www.leopgallagherstamford.com to leave an online condolence.