Melinda Trenchard: How Did Tom Jones’ Wife Die?

Melinda Trenchard is the late wife of Sir Thomas Jones Woodward commonly known as Tom Jones. Melinda’s husband Tom Jones is a Welsh singer whose career spans over 50 years. He is well known for hits including It’s Not Unusual, Kiss, Delilah, What’s New Pussycat, I’ll Never Fall In Love Again and If I Only Knew. He is an occasional actor as well.

Melinda Trenchard: Bio Summary

Who Was Tom Jones’ Wife, Melinda Trenchard?

Melinda Rose “Linda” Trenchard was born in 1941, in Treforest, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Her parents were William Henry Trenchard and Violet May Jones. She reportedly came from a family of local cinema owners. She kept most details of her family, early life, and education away from the spotlight. She worked as a factory worker.

Melinda married her childhood sweetheart Tom Jones. They first met at age 12 while growing up together in Treforest, Pontypridd. They fell in love with each other. In an interview, Tom revealed he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and would watch Melinda pass his window with friends as he lay in bed suffering from TB. He said: “I was in love with her when I had TB when I was 12.”

“And I would be thinking ‘oh my god, let’s get this TB over with so I can hold her’. So I really ached, you know. When they say heart ache, I physically ached.” Melinda and Tom started dating and often met at a phone box at the end of Tom’s street in Treforest “because it would be raining – in Wales it rains quite a lot”. Tom said he and Melinda were “so wrapped up in one another it’s unbelievable”.

Eventually, Melinda Trenchard and Tom Jones got married on 2 March 1957, while they were still teenagers. Their son Mark Woodward was born shortly after they got married. Mark arrived in the world on April 11, 1957. Although Melinda and her husband Tom had wanted more children, Tom disclosed in his autobiography, Over The Top And Back that a miscarriage had left Melinda infertile.

Before Tom Jones became a successful singer, he worked in construction and at a glove factory to provide for his family. Melinda and Tom’s marriage had its share of ups and downs. During their marriage, Tom was involved in several extramarital affairs. At the height of his fame, Tom slept with up to 250 women a year.

Tom revealed that Melinda once beat him up after a story about his affair went public. “I stood there and took it,” he said. “She chinned me. She punched and shouted.” Despite his infidelities, Melinda remained married to Tom until her death. Melinda was a very supportive wife and stood by her husband throughout their marriage. She was there for her husband and their child through thick and thin.

ALSO, READ: Mark Woodward: Everything To Know About Tom Jones’ Son

In a rare interview, Melinda revealed: “I feel alive when [Tom] comes through the door, whatever the time of day or night is.” Melinda is said to have battled emphysema and depression. She became reclusive, rarely leaving their Beverly Hills home. “I still love my wife – the longer you’re married, it changes,” Tom Jones once said.

“The older you get, it’s no longer a sex thing. There’s got to be more than that in order for it to last. You have to like one another; you have to have the same values.” He added: “We both came from a working-class background, we both came from the same place, so we’re not like two foreign people having to explain to the other what their childhood was like. A lot of that, I think, has to do with the marriage lasting as long as it did. We grew up together. To walk away from that would be terrible.”

Tom Jones has revealed that his wife Melinda remained the most important person in his life. “We love one another,” Tom told the BBC. “I think love conquers all and it’s the truth. And a sense of humour… because we grew up together, we’re both Welsh. You know, growing up in south Wales, there’s a certain sense of humour there.”

How Did Tom Jones’ Wife Die?

Melinda Trenchard died from cancer on 10 April 2016, at age 74, at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, USA. She died after a “short but fierce battle with cancer”. She was surrounded by her husband and loved ones when she passed away peacefully. Tom said: “I was there in the hospital room with her for the last 10 days and I said,

‘My god Linda, I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself because I won’t be able to sing, I won’t be able to get the words out’. She said, ‘You must!’ “She said, ‘Don’t fall with me! You know, I gotta go. But you don’t have to. And you’ve got to go and do what we planned to do’, which was to move back to London.”

ALSO, READ: Jonathan Berkery: Who Is Tom Jones’ Son?

After Melinda died, Tom sold the family’s Los Angeles mansion and its contents (apart from treasured photos) and moved into an apartment in London, as his Melinda wished. Tom doesn’t plan to remarry. Tom has spoken about struggling to cope with his wife’s death. He said: “I hear her voice. I see her a lot at night. When I dream that she’s still here and then I wake up and she’s not, that’s the hardest.”