Denver — His name may not be widely recognized, but executives of the Denver Broncos, Colorado Rockies, Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche all noted the passing last week of Gerald ‘Jerry’ Mellman.
For decades, Mellman was a sports photographer for the Intermountain Jewish News, a newspaper that covers the Jewish communities along the Front Range.
He died last Monday at the age of 91 and is survived by his wife and four children.
Born and raised in Denver, Mellman was known for his passion for sports and loved all the local teams, according to his friends.
Before his sports photography, Mellman was also a successful Denver attorney.
During Sunday’s preseason game at Mile High, the Broncos had a tribute set up in the press box where Mellman used to work.
Colleagues at the Intermountain Jewish News recall Mellman's focus was always on others.
"He himself was such a modest person," IJN Assistant Publisher Shana Goldberg said. "It was never about him. It was about who was in the picture."
Mellman took a picture of Muhammad Ali, one of other photos of "big celebrities," according to Goldberg.
"Jerry was around all these famous people,” Goldberg said. “That was what he did."
Many of his former colleagues and friends wrote about their memories of Mellman. Take a few minutes to read these thoughtful notes on the IJN website.
