It is with great sorrow that the family of Denis E. Kellman announce his passing peacefully at home in Warwick, on January 15, 2014, with his spouse and “faithful Pasco” at his side. He was 65.
Denis Elliott Kellman was born on July 6, 1948 at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City to the late Elliott and Beatrice (Roache) Kellman.. “Dek” as he was known, made his maternal residence in Hamilton Heights in NYC.
His childhood years were spent at Springfield Gardens, NY. Denis attended St. Catherine of Siena Parochial School and developed a great interest and soon excelled in track, and field, as well as Academics. In 1962, he was accepted to Marist Brothers Archbishop Molloy High School in Briarwood, NY. At Molloy, Denis quickly rose to the top of his class academically, as well as in track and field. One of many highlights was winning medals at the Madison Square Garden’s Millrose games and the Penn Relays. Denis was offered many sports scholarships at universities across America, but accepted an academic scholarship to Yale University. Dek loved Yale so much that he played an active role in reinstating the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity which had become dormant due to paucity of African American students who studied at Yale during the first half of the 20th century.
While at Yale, Dek was awarded a “Bates Fellowship” which offered him an opportunity to not only continue his studies abroad in the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Senegal and Mali, but also to develop his fluency in French language and his passion for African and Haitian art. He also developed a deeper desire to explore his ancestry/heritage in Ghana and Barbados. After graduation from Yale University with a BA degree, he moved right into studies at Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School, where he simultaneously earned both his Doctorate of Jurisprudence and MBA degrees.
Upon graduation from Harvard, Dek chose to begin his law practice on Wall Street with Leboeuf, Lamb, Leiby and MacRae. Realizing that Corporate Law alone wasn’t sufficiently rewarding to his talents, Dek soon moved forward to the Entertainment Law practice by joining Columbia Pictures where he was able to apply his corporate and business skills to the fields of film and music. For the remainder of his corporate career, he practiced in the entertainment arena. Denis moved from Columbia Records to Polygram Records before settling down with RCA Records.
Denis lived in London, England for four years as the head of RCA Business and Legal Affair Department. During this time, he negotiated RCA’s pop music deals with artists such as the Eurythmics, Five Star and all Motown artists whom RCA represented in Europe.
When BMG music acquired RCA, Dek returned to NY where he continued with BMG as its chief lawyer for distribution, classical music, Latin music and Broadway cast albums.
Upon returning stateside, Dek joined and later became the President and Chairman of the “Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association, or BESLA. BESLA is an organization of more than 800 lawyers nationwide who are dedicated to mentoring law college students. BESLA is also functioning to keep lawyers abreast of changes in law and in the most significant legal departments of the film, music, TV and sports areas. Toward this end, BESLA has had more than 32 annual conferences.
As the music industry changed, Dek opened a private practice from his home in Warwick, NY. His primary focus became audio book publishing through Blackstone Audiobooks, Inc. Dek became Audiobooks chief legal counsel, handling all legal matters for more than ten years.
Denis was well loved and respected in his communities at work and at home by all. He was a true gentleman and anyone who met him realized he was very personable and trustworthy and intelligent. He will be greatly missed by many people across this world. He left the world a better place, having shared it with us for 65 years.
He leaves his spouse/partner of seven years, Cal Miller; his sister, Joyce Gist of St. Petersburg, FL. Also surviving are: maternal aunt, Mildred Greene, paternal aunt, Mary Kellman, nephew Greg Gist, Jr .and his wife Jodi and their baby Camryn of Brandon,FL, and nieces Tiffany Gist-Walker and her husband Malachi, and their children Malachi, Jr., Jaidyn, Jeremiah, Rylee, Alexander and Xavier, and Erika Gist-Williams and her children Moses, Samuel, Jacob and Kaley,, all of St. Petersburg, FL; step-daughters: Taylor Miller and Tabitha Miller; step-grandson, Anderson Taylor Miller. Also surviving are many cousins and extended family members.
Memorial visitation will be on Friday, January 24, 2014 from 2:00 pm – 9:00 pm at Lazear-Smith & Vander Plaat Memorial Home, 17 Oakland Avenue, Warwick. Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10:00 am on Saturday, January 25, at St. Stephens RC Church, 75 Sanfordville Road, Warwick.
Memorial donations may be sent to BESLA, PO Box 230794, New York, NY 10023.