Symphony Cellist Polly Lehwalder, 80, Dies

Polly Clifford Lehwalder, a Seattle Symphony cellist for many years, leaves a musical legacy in a community that will long remember her "quiet dignity and wonderful sense of humor."

She died Monday (Aug. 10) of a heart attack. She was 80.

Her daughter Heidi Lehwalder remembers her mother was "like the sunshine coming in through the doors. She had a quiet and unassuming dignity, but she could also make us howl with laughter. . . . she read everything and was incredibly quick-witted."

Mrs. Lehwalder was born in Iditarod, Alaska, and her early musical studies were in Seattle, where the family moved during her school years. By the time she was 14 she was studying with the University of Washington music faculty. She entered the UW at 15, quickly becoming the principal cellist of the University Symphony. That's where she met her husband, Arthur Lehwalder, who was a violinist in the orchestra.

She joined the Symphony in 1941, when the English-born Sir Thomas Beecham was the conductor. Mrs. Lehwalder left the symphony for a few years when her children were small, returning in the late 1950s when her harpist daughter Heidi, then 8 years old, soloed with the symphony for the first time.

Her husband recalled she left the symphony for good in the mid-1980s. For about 15 years Mrs. Lehwalder played in a trio at the Meany Hotel. She also taught private cello lessons.

Heidi Lehwalder remembers her mother rising at 4:30 every morning to get as much as possible out of the day.

Mrs. Lehwalder is survived by her husband, Arthur, a retired probation officer; her daughter Juliet Warnock, a cellist, living in London; her son Christen, an artist living in Port Townsend; her daughter Heidi, a Seattle harpist and artistic director of the Belle Arte concert series; her daughter Nancy Lehwalder, a singer, of Sweden; her son Franz, a Seattle pianist; and her daughter Deborah, a dancer and yoga instructor living in Los Angeles; and six grandchildren.

At Mrs. Lehwalder's request, there will be no service. Remembrances may be directed to the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Benaroya Hall, 200 University St., Seattle, WA 98111.