Peter Joseph Shellem

Peter Joseph Shellem, 49 of Gardners passed away Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009, at his home.

Born Oct. 6, 1960, in Broomall, Pa., he was a son of the late Harry and Josephine (Max) Shellem.

Pete graduated from Temple University in 1983. He worked as a stringer for the Delaware County Daily Times and as a police reporter for the Pottstown Mercury before devoting 23 years as an investigative reporter for the Patriot News. His diligence and dedication to his journalistic work is admirable. Pete demonstrated a relentless search for the truth. His investigative work played a critical role in the release of five wrongly-convicted inmates in recent years.

In 2007, Pete was featured in the American Journalism Review. He had work published in The Crimes Classification Manual, True Stories of False Confessions, and the Journal of Forensic Nursing. He won numerous journalism awards throughout his professional career, presented by the Society of Professional Journalists, the Pennsylvania Newspapers Association, and the Pennsylvania Society of Newspaper Editors. He was recognized by the Goldberg Memorial Lecture Series for Excellence in Journalism following the release of Steven Crawford, and the Firm Foundation of Pennsylvania awarded Pete the Kler Jones Jr. Service Award after the release of David Gladden. He won the Justice in Journalism Award, recently renamed the Pete Shellem Champion of Justice Award, from the ACLU of Pennsylvania South Chapter in 2007. The Dauphin County Bar Association presented the Liberty Bell Award to Pete in 2008.

In his free time, Pete enjoyed spending time with family and friends, hiking, boating, taking vacations to the beach, and spending time in nature.

Surviving is his wife of 24 years, Joyce V. (Elser) Shellem; his sons Philip J. Shellem of Carlisle and Alek V. Shellem of Gardners; his brother Paul Shellem of Downingtown; and his sister Karen Cain of Broomall. He was preceded in death by a sister, Joann Shellem, and brother, Philip M. Shellem.

Memorial services will be 2 p.m. Monday at Malpezzi Funeral Home, Mechanicsburg. A time of visitation will be held noon to 2 p.m. Monday at the funeral home.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Peter J. Shellem Memorial Journalism Scholarship Fund, c/o Spero Lappas, 2080 Linglestown Road, Harrisburg, PA 17110.

To sign the online guest book, please visit http://www.malpezzifuneralhome.com">www.malpezzifuneralhome.com