Marlys Anne Saltzer

1939 - 2020

Marlys Anne Hughes Saltzer
1939 - 2020
Marlys Anne Saltzer, 80, died peacefully on Sunday, January 26, 2020, of natural causes.
A fourth generation Idahoan on both her maternal and paternal sides, she was born in Nampa, Idaho, on March 6, 1939, the only child of Iva Maxine Cobbs and Loren La Verne Hughes. The family moved several times during her childhood, living in Mackay, Lewiston, Sandpoint, and Hailey before returning to Nampa where she was elected Honored Queen of Job's Daughters Bethel #49, attended Syringa Girl's State, and was co-salutatorian of the Nampa High School class of 1957.
She attended Whitman College and the University of Idaho where she was elected to Mortar Board honorary society and Sigma Alpha Iota international music fraternity, graduating in 1961. In that same year, she married Jerry Saltzer, the other co-salutatorian of her Nampa High School class, and moved to Newton, Massachusetts, where they lived for the next forty-five years. She graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music with a Master of Music degree and began teaching piano privately from her home while Jerry became a Professor of Computer Science at MIT. When Jerry retired in 2006, they returned to the Treasure Valley, settling in Boise and spending summers in McCall with family.
Marlys loved to travel, particularly enjoying six months living in Cambridge, England, where Jerry took a sabbatical. During her lifetime she also visited Japan, India, Colombia, Israel, Greece, Berlin (before the wall came down), the Czech Republic, Hungary, Denmark, Norway, Scotland, France, Italy, and Russia.
While living in Massachusetts, Marlys performed duo-piano concerts around Boston. Performances included WGBH (the Boston Public Broadcasting Station), the Boston Public Library, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the National Heritage Museum in Lexington. She also accompanied the Newton Public School Chorus and several adult choruses. In Boise, she was the pianist in the Table Rock Trio, which performed at the Cathedral of the Rockies, Second Sunday Sounds at Six in McCall, and numerous women's clubs, most recently playing for her P.E.O. chapter in November, 2019. She sang, in addition to playing the piano, in the choir of the Community Congregational Church of McCall and the Union Church in Waban, Massachusetts, where she served as music committee chair.
She was President, Past President and Honorary Member of the New England Piano Teachers Association. She also served as President of P.E.O. Chapter K (Boston), P.E.O. Chapter BX (Boise), P.E.O. Reciprocity (Boise), Saturday Fortnightly Club (Boise), and Fort Boise Questers. She joined the Boston Tea Party chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and upon moving to Boise transferred to the Pioneer chapter where she served as chapter librarian.
She was an avid book reader (almost always a member of two book clubs at a time), and enjoyed theater, symphony, museums, and relaxing with her three rescue dogs. Her friends describe her as elegant, gracious, kind, thoughtful, intelligent, vibrant, articulate, treasured, a respected leader with impeccable judgment, and a dear friend. She will be deeply missed.
She is survived by her husband of 58 years, Jerome (Jerry) Howard Saltzer, her daughters Rebecca Lee Saltzer (Philip Tracadas), Sarah Dawn Saltzer (Tom Grossman), son Mark Alan Saltzer, and granddaughters Hannah Lee Grossman and Caroline Summer Grossman as well as several cousins, nieces, and nephews. Her parents, aunts, and uncles all predeceased her.
It was her wish that there be no funeral or memorial service. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to McPaws Regional Animal Shelter (McPaws.org) in McCall.