Regina "Jennie" Martin. April 20, 1938 - Nov. 12, 2022
Heaven gained a beautiful, loving, independent woman in the early morning hours on Saturday. She was always the life of the party and had a personality that was three sizes too big for her small frame. True to her fashion, she wore it with a class and charm all her own.
Jennie was born in Biddeford, Maine. She grew up in a bilingual household speaking both French and English and remained fluent in each her entire life. She loved reminiscing about her childhood home along with her family and friends. One of her favorite stories was how her and her friends would go to Old Orchard Beach and have a “Lobstah” Roll. She would visit Biddeford any time she could after she moved away and cherished her lifelong friends who remained.
Jennie left Maine in the mid-sixties to pursue a career in music. She had a passion for singing and she could draw a crowd with her voice alone. Over the course of the next 8 years, she would travel all over the lower 48 states singing with various country acts. After moving with her 5 kids from Yuma, AZ to Helena, MT in 1976, she started singing with the Ron Adams band at The Modern West. She would start a few bands of her own including Blue Silver and Fools Gold. Singing in these bands was something she loved and cherished everyday of her life. Fans would recognize her from her days in the limelight for decades to come.
Jennie was a confirmed Catholic and attended Sundays at St. Helena's Cathedral or Our Lady of the Valley in Helena. She loved cooking, gardening, movies, Dixie land jazz music, science fiction and her cats. When she was younger, she enjoyed cross country skiing, visiting ghost towns and old gold boom towns. She had a love for history ranging from Egyptology to local legends.
She is survived by her sons Steven, David, Jim, daughter Shari, sisters Ruby, Carol and Maria, daughters-in-law Stacey, Dawn, and Melinda, her grandchildren Jason, David, Megan, CJ, Ashley, Amanda, Steven, James, Gina and Alex, and her great-grandchildren Taryn, Logan, Zoe Quinn, Roger, Elizabeth, Tailynn, Emily, Kloie, Jace, Alaina, Jocelyn, Anayajaira, Diego and Carmen.
Jennie was preceded in death by her daughter Robin, nephew Jesse, brother Raymond and sisters Trudy and Stephanie.
Services will be held April 20, 2023, held at Resurrection Cemetery in Helena, MT (more details at that time). Correspondence may be sent to Anderson Stevenson Wilke Funeral Home, 3750 N Montana Ave., Helena, MT 59602. Please visit www.aswfuneralhome.com to offer a condolence to the family or to share a memory of Jennie.
