On Wednesday February 26th 2020, Dennis Mellen passed away, after a long battle with cancer. He was not only employed here as a valued piano teacher and performed here as a concert pianist, but was a true friend to everyone here, with his friendly and helpful attitude.
Born in Waukegan, Dennis grew up in Gurnee and played music at Warren Township High School, an activity he’d return to many years later with the Warren Alumni Choir.
Out of high school, he joined the US Air Force, playing around the world in an Air Force Band. Later, he’d play for a wide variety of acts in Las Vegas, where he was an in-demand session player.
In 2014, he moved back to the area for a variety of reasons, including to make sure his daughter Lauren who has special needs could utilize the top-notch services Warren Township could offer. Dennis visited us during concerts and ArtWauks and when an opening on the teaching team became available, we knew just the right teacher to call.
Since then, he has dedicated his time and energy to dozens of students here, including many of our staff members. His knowledge was deep and his drive to help was always there.
Dennis is survived by his father Thomas Mellen and his daughters Katie and Lauren. Due to her special needs, arrangements have been made for Lauren to live with family in the state of Washington.
We have permission from the family to link to Dennis’ memorial service details, obituary, and online guestbook (which we encourage you to sign).
In lieu of flowers, donations are encouraged to be made to the Shriner’s Children Hospital or to the National Downs Syndrome Society.
If you have a memory of Dennis, I’d encourage you to leave a comment. If that doesn’t work, you can also email your story to [email protected], and I’ll add it to this blog post. We want to keep these memories alive and available for anyone who knew Dennis.
0 Comments