Who is Ellis Marsalis Jr.’s Wife? Dolores Marsalis Wiki, Age, Children, Family, Net Worth, Obituary and Funeral

Dolores Marsalis Biography – Dolores Marsalis Wiki

Dolores Marsalis born Delores Ferdinand was the wife of American jazz pianist and educator Ellis Marsalis Jr. She attended St. Mary’s Academy High School and Grambling State University, where she studied home economics. Although she did not pursue music professionally, Ellis Marsalis Jr. told WWL-TV that music ran in his wife’s family. He said, “On her father’s side, she was related to Wellman Braud, who was Duke Ellington’s bass player, and on her mother’s side she was related to the clarinetist Alphonse Picou, so music really was in the family, even if it wasn’t something she herself pursued. She had a beautiful singing voice and was very musical, though she didn’t practice it as a profession.”

Dolores Marsalis Age

Dolores Marsalis died on July 18, 2017. She was 80 years old.

Ellis Marsalis Jr.’ wife, Dolores Marsalis

Ellis Marsalis Jr. met his future wife, Dolores Marsalis, at Lincoln Beach in 1956, where both were attending a Dinah Washington concert. They started dating and married in 1959. Their eldest son, Branford Marsalis, was born in 1960.

Dolores Marsalis Children

Ellis Marsalis and his wife, Dolores Marsalis, had six sons: Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Delfeayo Marsalis, Jason Marsalis, Ellis Marsalis III, and Mboya Kenyatta Marsalis.

Branford Marsalis told writer Geraldine Wyckoff for an OffBeat Magazine profile in 2014, “My mother was the disciplinarian in the house. With dad in charge, we could have gotten away with almost anything, save burning the house down. Mama didn’t play that…at all.”

Wynton Marsalis said, “Everything she did would be original. Her way of talking was original, the food that she would cook was original and the way she would joke around or mess with you would be original.”

In 2014, Jason Marsalis said, “Mother was the one who basically kept everything in line. Her personality is definitely one of those strong women that does not play at all when it comes to her kids. And you needed that, especially with the older ones. She really needed it then. Dad honestly would sometimes think more about music than other family issues, like money.”

Dolores Marsalis Death

Ellis Marsalis Jr.’s wife, Dolores Marsalis, died on July 18, 2017, at the age of 80.

Dolores Marsalis Cause of Death

According to Ellis Marsalis Jr., Delores had been suffering from dementia for some time and was also diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.