Richard J. Mello, age 76 of New Bedford, passed away on Wednesday, June 28, 2017 at Massachusetts General Hospital. He was the beloved husband of Patricia (Arruda) and son of the late Evangeline (Prenda) and Joseph Mello.
Mr. Mello was born in New Bedford, MA. He graduated from New Bedford High School as well as Southeastern Massachusetts University where he obtained a degree in education. He was an art teacher at the Rochester, Marion and Mattapoisett Elementary Schools for 10 years and also taught art at ORR Jr. High School for 30 years.
He is survived by his wife Patricia; son, Jason and his wife, Nicole; daughter, Sara; 2 granddaughters, Alexis and Brooke; a sister, Beverly and her husband, Larry Fields; 3 nephews, Jeff Fields, Rick Fields and Adam Mello. He was also the brother of the late Elizabeth Mello.
According to his wishes, he was cremated. A memorial service will be held in the ORR auditorium on Sunday, Dec 3rd from 1-3pm.
He was my favorite teacher because he made me feel cared about. He taught with warmth and love, and he still inspires me to do the same in my middle school science classes. I was just thinking about him and decided to do a search, I didn’t realize he had passed away. What a treasure we had in this man.