Mello, Henry J.

Biography

A Watsonville native, Henry John Mello was born on March 27th, 1924, the child of an immigrant Portuguese family from the Azores. He attended Watsonville High School and Hartnell College in Salinas. With his father, he worked in the apple business, establishing a family farming business in 1940. Together they founded the Mello Packing Company in 1948, and the Central Industrial Sales Company in 1965. From the mid-1950's on Mello was involved in many local charitable and non-profit organizations. His initial foray into politics began in 1950 when he was a Democratic volunteer during the senate campaign between Richard M. Nixon and Helen Gahagan Douglas. Throughout the 1950's he worked on Democratic campaigns, and was elected to the Democratic Central Committee. His local public service career began when he served as a member of the California Agricultural Advisory Board and as a fire commissioner.

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