Jackie Melvin, 90

Jackie Melvin passed away Saturday, July 20, 2019. At her request, no services are planned.

Jackie was born on Nov. 24, 1928, in Judith Gap to Nelson and Josephine Maxwell. She attended schools in Butte, Whitefish, Havre and Great Falls, where she graduated from Great Falls High.

Jackie attended MacPhail Conservatory of Music in Minneapolis and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in music performance.

She married George T. Melvin on Dec. 26, 1949, in Great Falls.

Jackie was an accomplished concert violinist and teacher. She began her career playing solo concerts for cities in Washington and Idaho. She then joined the Spokane Symphony. Later she returned to Great Falls where she was concertmaster for the Great Falls Symphony. She soloed with symphonies throughout the Northwest, played in string quartets, and taught violin. For many summers, she attended the Bach Festival in California and participated in the symphony for training conductors with Dr. Lert at Asilomar in Carmel, California. For one season she played with the Milwaukee Symphony, and then another year she played with the Guadalajara, Mexico Symphony. In Guadalajara, she was staff soloist, and she taught violin to members of the symphony. In Las Vegas, she played with Wayne Newton’s orchestra at the Aladdin Casino before returning to Spokane where she again played in the Spokane Symphony.

In 1991 she and her husband moved to Kalispell where Jackie was the concertmaster of the Glacier Orchestra until her retirement. She continued to teach violin until she moved back to Great Falls in 2014.

Jackie is survived by her sister, Mary Jo Scott, of Havre; daughter, Julie (Jeff) Wolf, of Great Falls; son, Bill (Allie) Melvin, of Kennewick, Washington; two grandsons; three great-grandsons; one great-granddaughter, as well as all of her violin students.

Donations in her memory may be made to the Humane Society of Cascade County or the Great Falls Rescue Mission. Condolences may be shared with the family online at www.oconnorfuneralhome.com.