Melvin Irvin

Melvin Irvin, Jr. (May 4, 1942 – June 7, 2014), was an American educator and real estate developer from Gonzales, Louisiana, who was a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for District 58 encompassing Ascension, Assumption, Iberville, and St. James parishes. Irvin was the first black to hold the District 58 seat; his tenure extended from 1984 to 1992 during the administrations of Governors Edwin Edwards and Buddy Roemer.

Biography

One of eight children of Melvin, Sr., and Laura Jenkins Irvin, Melvin Irvin graduated from the historically black Lowery High School, subsequently merged into Donaldsonville High School in Donaldsonville in west Ascension Parish, and Southern University in Baton Rouge, from which he received Bachelor of Science and Master of Education degrees. He was a mathematics teacher and later a supervisor of math and reading at the Louisiana Department of Education. Prior to his legislative years, Irvin was an elected member from 1972 to 1983 of the Ascension Parish School Board and from 1976 to 1978 was the first African American president of the board.

Irvin was first elected to the House by 65 votes in a runoff contest held on November 19, 1983, with his fellow Democrat, Camille J. Russo, Jr., 5,717 (50.3 percent) to 5,652 (49.7 percent). He won his second term in the runoff contest held on November 21, 1987, when he again defeated Russo, 8,191 (52.5 percent) to 7,421 (47.5 percent). Irvin could not seek a third term in 1991, when he was convicted for bribery of two public housing officials in Baton Rouge. He was sentenced to serve six years in federal prison.

During his career, Irvin also worked as an operator at Vulcan Chemical Company and was a director of the Louisiana Superdome. He established the River Road Urban League, the first branch of that organization in Ascension Parish. He was the president of the River Area Improvement League. Irvin was a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Builder Trade Association, Capital Region Building Association, and the Louisiana Home Builder Association.

Irvin served only a small portion of his sentence and was released from prison on October 13, 1993. He died of cancer in 2014 at the age of seventy-two. His visitation was held at the Hopeful Triumph Baptist Church in Darrow, Louisiana; his services, at Christian Assembly Full Gospel Church in Gonzales. Tanzia Jones, a family friend, described Irvin, accordingly, "He met no strangers. He was affable and comfortable around national figures, state office holders, and everyday citizens, not only in Gonzales but around the world." He is interred at the Christian Assembly Full Gospel Church Cemetery.