Melinda D. Wagner

Melinda Wagner (née Dalley) passed away peacefully from Parkinson’s disease on Sunday, April 20, 2025, at her home in Traverse City, Michigan. Melinda was born in Emporia, Kansas, on October 1, 1940. Her parents were Orien Emeal Dalley and Gretchen Smoot Dalley, both renowned musicians, composers, and teachers. A mathematician as well as an accomplished cellist and self-taught bassoonist, she taught at the Interlochen Center for the Arts and performed and recorded with artists such as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Mel Tormé, Sammy Davis Jr., Pearl Bailey, and Ella Fitzgerald. Melinda was elected secretary-treasurer and, later, acting president of the Musician’s Union Local Six in San Francisco, negotiating and advocating tirelessly for the livelihood and rights of hardworking musicians in the area and across the country. She was later selected to serve on the AFM Pension Fund board of directors. For Melinda, sports was second only to music. She almost never missed a Francisco 49ers, Golden State Warriors, or Wolverines game. Her knowledge of baseball trivia was encyclopedic. She loved books, and her library was full of well-thumbed classics and recent biographies. She cared deeply about the environment, and donated many acres of land to the Grand Traverse Land Conservancy. She was also an avid art collector, Maine native Geer Morton being a favorite painter. She never met a cat she didn’t like, especially her beloved buddy PT (“Puddy Tat”), and cat-themed gifts always brought a smile to her face. She loved to travel, especially taking scenic train rides across the country and annual adventures farther afield with her stepdaughter. Whenever she visited friends and family, you knew that wonderful meals, concerts, shows, and plays would be in store. She believed that music should always be “live.” Her wry and often self-deprecating sense of humor never failed her, even toward the end. Melinda lived, variously, in San Franscisco, Napa, Half Moon Bay, Pacifica, and Daly City in California; Lake Tahoe, Nevada; Amarillo, Texas; and Interlochen and Traverse City in Michigan. Melinda was preceded in death by her parents, her sister Elaine (Dalley) Conrad, and her husbands, Mitchell Ross and Bill Wagner. She is survived by her brothers, John Dalley and Nielsen Dalley; stepdaughters Dianne Drisko and Marilyn Manderscheid; stepson Gary Wagner; step-grandchildren Joshua Ragotskie, Mason Ragotskie, Anders Manderscheid, and Ryan Manderscheid; her nieces and nephew, Kirsten Dalley, Karen (Dalley) Bodamer, Astrid “Star” Dalley, Lorraine Francis, Beth Conrad, and Erik Dalley; grandnieces Annalisa Bradshaw and Eleanor Dalley; grandnephew Nathan Dalley; and friends and colleagues too numerous to count. Special thanks go to the dedicated caregivers at Sunrise Comfort Care and Heartland Hospice. They truly loved her as a family member and cared for her accordingly. Melinda also was always grateful to her financial advisor, Patrick Cross, whose prudent advice is, in great part, what enabled her to be cared for so expertly and lovingly in her final years. Please share your cherished memories of Melinda with her family at www.Reynolds-Jonkhoff.com

Melinda D. Wagner

October 1, 1940 - April 20, 2025