Michael Melloy

Michael Joseph Melloy was born in Dubuque, Iowa, on 15 January 1948, the oldest of five children of Bill and Pat Melloy. His family recalled a 1950s childhood of Little League, the Allison Henderson Park pool, summer stays on farms, bike races and holidays with crowds of cousins.

He graduated from Wahlert High School in Dubuque in 1966 and from Loras College in 1970 with a Bachelor of Arts in economics, magna cum laude. He then served in the United States Army from 1970 to 1972, initially at Fort Leonard Wood, and in the Army Reserve from 1972 to 1976. He received his Juris Doctor with high distinction from the University of Iowa College of Law in 1974, and during law school he interned at the Jo Daviess County, Illinois, attorney's office.

Melloy began his legal career in 1974 at O'Connor & Thomas in Dubuque, where he became a partner and practised mainly civil litigation, along with administrative law, real estate, bankruptcy and tax work. He also co-chaired Tom Tauke's congressional campaigns and served Catholic organisations including the Dubuque Catholic Metropolitan School Board, Clarke University and the Knights of Columbus.

In 1986 he became a judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Iowa, moving with his family to Cedar Rapids. He served there until 1992, through the worst years of the farm crisis.

On 9 April 1992 President George H. W. Bush nominated him to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa, to the seat vacated by David R. Hansen. He was confirmed on 12 August 1992 and served as chief judge from 1992 to 1999. He also chaired the bankruptcy committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States.

On 4 September 2001 President George W. Bush nominated him to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, to the seat vacated by George Gardner Fagg. The Senate confirmed him on 11 February 2002 by a vote of 91 to 0, and he received his commission on 14 February 2002. He took senior status on 1 February 2013 and continued to hear cases until he fully retired in 2024.

On 2 April 2018 the Supreme Court of the United States appointed him special master in Texas v. New Mexico and Colorado, an original jurisdiction dispute over water rights to the Rio Grande.

Melloy met Jane Anne Knapp at a pig roast in Dubuque, and they married on 27 December 1975. They had three daughters, Jennie, Kate and Bridget, and seven grandchildren. His family described him as the original girl dad and a devoted grandfather, remembered for his laugh, his raspberry pancakes and the gatherings the family called Camp Melloy.

In later years he and Jane Anne travelled to Russia, Thailand, Italy and Turkey. He loved to cook, read widely, played Settlers of Catan and kept up a Saturday breakfast group and Sunday family dinners. He often said that a judge is only as good as his law clerks, and many of his former clerks remained close friends.

Michael Melloy died peacefully on 20 October 2026 in Coralville, Iowa, surrounded by his family, after a brief battle with cancer. He was 78. He was survived by his wife, Jane Anne, his three daughters and their husbands, seven grandchildren and four siblings, Tom, Tim, Colleen and Patrick.

A visitation and memorial programme were scheduled at Hancher Auditorium in Iowa City on 6 November 2026, followed by a private family funeral mass on 7 November. The family asked that, in lieu of flowers, gifts be made to the Judge Michael Melloy memorial fund at the University of Iowa College of Law, Feed Iowa First or the Indian Creek Nature Center.

Melloy served on the federal bench for 38 years, sitting in turn as a bankruptcy judge, a district judge and an appellate judge. He was appointed by two presidents and confirmed to the Eighth Circuit without a single vote against him. His work as special master in an interstate water dispute showed the trust the Supreme Court placed in him late in his career, and his former law clerks carry on his example in their own careers. A memorial fund in his name was established at the University of Iowa College of Law.