RSS 2.0 FeedJuly 29, 2010, Death Notices
Richard Gellis
Former Merokian Richard I. Gellis, a founder of the Merrick-North Merrick Little League and Temple Beth Am, died July 9 in Boynton Beach, Florida, at the age of 101.
Former Merokian Richard I. Gellis, a founder of the Merrick-North Merrick Little League and Temple Beth Am, died July 9 in Boynton Beach, Florida, at the age of 101. A Merrick resident for 63 years before moving to Florida in 2004, he was born in Brooklyn on March 27, 1909 to the late Samuel L. and Anna B. Gellis.
Dick was preceded in death by his wife Ethyle, as well as his brothers Art Green, Morty, Sydney and Paul Gellis and his sister Sylvia G. Kaplan.
Survivors include sons Carl (Charlotte) of Blacksburg, Virginia, and Sandy (Louise) of Woodcliff, New Jersey. Also surviving are grandchildren Michael Gellis, Long Beach, California, Gregory Gellis, Marietta, Georgia, Catherine Gellis, Blacksburg, Virginia, and step-grandchildren Natalie Gros and Jared Cantor.
He is also survived by three great grandchildren, Nicholas and Lachlan Gellis, Charlie Gros. Many loving nieces and nephews and two sisters–in-law, Eunice Gellis and Mildred Silverman of Boynton Beach, Florida, also, a special cousin, Bobbie Schneider of Boynton Beach.
Dick worked for more than 50 years as a furman for the New York Auction Co. He was honored in 1954 as the International Furman of the Year. In his later years, he taught at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City.
He received many honors and awards through the years but most special was the Honorary Mayor of Fox Boulevard, Merrick, where he and Ethyle moved in 1941.
Together they were among the founding members of the Merrick Little League and also Temple Beth Am of Merrick. Dick truly had a life filled with loving friends and relatives and many hearty laughs together with a true enjoyment of his journey through this world. To quote more than one of his friends, “Dick was a great guy.”
Contributions may be made to the Ethyle Gellis Memorial Fund at Temple Beth Am in Merrick, 378-3477.
Graveside services were on Wednesday, July 14, at Mt. Neboh Cemetery, Glendale.
Arrangements were made by I.J. Morris Funeral Directors, West Palm Beach, Florida.
