Sheila C. (Dunphy) Mello, 81, of Bristol, passed away on Saturday, May 1, 2021, surrounded by her family. She was the loving wife of Robert W. Mello Sr.

Born Aug. 11, 1939, in Providence, she was a daughter of the late Leo Raymond Dunphy and Ruth (Handly) Dunphy.

Sheila was a 1958 graduate of Hope High School, where she met her husband, and they married in 1960.After that, she lived in Providence for several years with her husband. The family later moved to Bristol in 1968. In Bristol, she worked in the school department as a teacher’s aide and later in the school administration department, retiring in 2001.

Sheila enjoyed spending her time at the state’s beaches with family, knitting, reading, and traveled cross country by train to the West Coast. She also loved watching sports. Most of all, she loved spending time with her family.

In addition to her husband of 61 years, she leaves her beloved children, Deborah Serafino (John)  of Brattleboro, Vt., Robert “Wayne” Mello Jr. (Donna) of Bristol, Kevin J. Mello (Brenda Santos) of Bristol, Patricia Vaccaro (Steven) of Bristol, Dorene Mello-Dubois of Bristol, Lisa Mello (Matthew Gormley) of Cranston; her grandchildren, Marissa (Robert), Blake (Olivia), Catherine, Robby (Dominique), Steven (Kaitlyn), Hannah, Rachel, Corey, Lauren, Logan, Trace, Myles and Reed; and her great-grandchildren, Weslee, Cecilia, and Nina. 

She was the sister of Eleanor “Pat” Simonini of Edgewater, Md., James Dunphy of Boca Raton, Fla., the late Leo “Raymond” Dunphy Jr. and the late Judith Klitzner.

Her funeral will begin Friday, May 7, at 9 a.m. from the Rebello Funeral Home and Crematory, 901 Broadway, East Providence, with a Mass of Christian Burial at 10 a.m. in St. Mary’s Church, 330 Wood St., Bristol. Burial will follow at the North Burial Ground, Bristol. Visitation will take place in the funeral home Friday morning from 8 to 9 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in her name can be made to the COPD Foundation or the American Heart Association.