Denis Richard Mellen was born November 19, 1950, in Gardner, Massachusetts, to Clarence Herbert and Marjorie Doris (Brehio) Mellen. He grew up with four siblings and the family moved to Oregon when he was a child, settling in the Portland. Denis attended Clackamas High School graduating in 1968. He was incredibly intelligent and excelled at math and science in school. After high school, Denis married and had three children, working hard at any job he could find to provide for his young family. When the marriage ended in divorce, Denis went back to school, taking a job in his field of choice just shy of earning a degree. While in college he met Linda McCollam and the two were married July 2, 1989, in Reno, Nevada. The family enjoyed the outdoors and took many camping and fishing trips together at Timothy Lake and the log Jam on the upper Clackamas. So many fun memories were made there over the years with friends and family. Denis also loved to play golf and would often go with his sons. He was also an avid gardener and the one everyone turned to when they were having plant problems. Another of his talents was wine making and he was almost famous for his blackberry wine. Denis worked many jobs over the years before taking a job at Norpac in Stayton as a design engineer, where he would stay for 17 years until the plant closed and forced his retirement. His claim to engineering fame was inventing the machine that made curly fries, even though he did not get the personal credit as he was working for Norpac. Denis was incredibly intelligent and inquisitive and was constantly learning new things and questioning everything to understand it better. He enjoyed socializing with family and friends and coworkers. Over the last year, Denis’s health began to fail, taking a toll on his demeanor and outlook. Although the pandemic was difficult to navigate emotionally, on top of the health issues, the family became even closer because of it all. On November 19, 2020, Denis passed-away in Stayton, Oregon. Denis was preceded in death by his parents Clarence and Marjorie, son Donald Mellen, stepson Donald Lambert Jr, and siblings Debbie and Jerry. He is survived by his wife of 31 years, Linda; children Angie (Ronald) Haney, Henry (Jody Fisher) Mellen, and Susie (Clint) Bushnell; siblings Jean Bowling and Phillip Mellen; and nine grandchildren and one great-grandchild.