Jack Melloy was born in Brisbane, the youngest of six children of Charles Frederick Melloy and Ada Louise Crampton. Unlike his older siblings, Jack had no middle name, which irritated him, so he sometimes called himself John Joseph Patrick Melloy. He married Elizabeth Maude Garner on 24 June 1933. They had seven children: John, Elaine, Lynette, Carol, Noela, Geoffrey, and Christine. Jack Melloy died at Redcliffe in 2006, aged 97. His wife Maude had died in 1995. The couple were survived by their 7 children, 50 grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren.
Jack Melloy joined the Labor Party in 1922 at the age of 14. His interest in socialist politics was influenced by his trade unionist cousin Walter Russell Crampton. Jack Melloy first ran for public office in 1949 as a Labor candidate for Buranda in Brisbane City Council elections but was unsuccessful. He stood for the federal electorate of Lilley in 1955 and 1958 but was unsuccessful both times. In 1960 he was the Labor candidate in the Queensland electorate of Nudgee and was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland. He remained as Member for Nudgee until his retirement in 1977. He was Shadow Minister for Health from 1967 to 1972, where his background as a dental technician made him passionate about the state's lack of dental services and the poor health system generally. In 1974 Melloy was elected deputy leader of the State Labor Party, defeating Keith Wright and Jack Houston. He remained deputy leader until 1976. He championed the safari suit by wearing one in Parliament but was told to leave and derided as a hippy. He retired in 1977, but continued his political activities through assisting his politically active family in their campaigns. In 1980 his daughter Elaine Darling won the seat of Lilley. His granddaughter Vicky Darling won the state seat of Sandgate in 2006. Other family members served in executive positions of branches of the Labor Party. In 1989 his daughter Noela Pemberton was the Labor candidate in the State electorate of Aspley being defeated by about 400 votes, after outpolling a sitting National PartyState Government Minister and a Liberal Party Local Government Councillor on the primary vote. The Local Government councillor won the seat after the distribution of preferences. In 2000 his daughters Elaine Darling and Lyn Kally became local government Councillors in Queensland - Elaine in Caloundra, and Lyn in Esk Shire. Jack Melloy was awarded life membership of the Australian Labor Party in 1984. At age 95, he was still handing out how-to-vote cards on election day, loyal to his party. He served his party for over 80 years.
