Obituary : Alvar W. Polk, Jr.

Published: May 15, 2008

Alvar "Jim" Whittington Polk, Jr., a longtime summer resident of Harthaven in Oak Bluffs, died on May 5, in Delray Beach, Fla., at the age of 94.

He was born May 12, 1913, in West Roxbury to Maybell Teel Polk and Alvar Whittington Polk. He attended Boston Latin School, graduating in 1930 and attended Harvard University, graduating in 1934.

Jim entered the Navy in 1942 and served in the Pacific. He received a special commendation for a Marine ocean rescue in Iwo Jima. He worked for John Hancock Life Insurance Company the majority of his career, retiring in 1971 as Director of Pensions.

He was a past member of The Country Club in Brookline, the Delray Dunes Country Club in Delray Beach, Fla., the Mid Ocean County Club in Bermuda, the Wellesley Country Club in Wellesley, and the Edgartown Golf Club in Edgartown.

Jim loved to play golf, swim, and dig for clams but he was probably best known for his trumpet playing. He was voted second best trumpet player in the Boston Schools for three years. He played in the Boston Latin School Cadet Band, the Harvard Band and started his own musical group, Jim Polk and the Polkadots. He earned his own way through college performing in clubs and hotels in the Boston area. Jim was often was seen on the beach in Menemsha at sunset playing romantic tunes for lovers, favorite requests of picnickers and Taps for the veterans.

He is survived by his three children, Judith Anne Ryan and her husband, Jim of Manhattan Beach, Calif., Diane Polk Morgan of Oak Bluffs, and David Edgar Polk and his wife, Rennie, of West Hartford, Conn.; his sister, Barbara Polk Washburn of Waltham; nine grandsons, six great grandchildren; four nieces and two nephews. He was predeceased by his wife, Mary Bowen Polk, and his other sister, Edith Polk Eidsness.

A private celebration of his life will be held by his family at a later date.

His funeral services are under the care of Lorne and Sons Funeral Home in Delray Beach, Fla.