 He spent the final six years of his life undergoing treatments and chemotherapy.Although managing to live a normal life for some time, Vellone finally succumbed to the cancerous disease on August 21, 1977, a day after his 33rd birthday, at St. Joseph's Hospital in Orange, California.According to a brief article in the "St. Petersburg Times" (Fla.) newspaper two days after his death, friends said that Vellone checked into St. Joseph's, due to breathing problems.