Pauline Blattner was born in Seattle on December 17, 1971 to William S. and Elizabeth R. Blattner, she was known as Polly to her friends and family. She had three older siblings; Catherine, Joseph and Suzanne; and one son Nicholas. Though the family first lived in West Seattle, when Polly was about 7, they moved to Auburn, Washington.
As a young girl, Polly was most of all a tomboy. She loved being outside. She played in the Soroptimist softball league. Growing up Polly and Suzi shared a bedroom for most of their childhood, and because of that they were quite close. Even with the difference in their ages, they liked the same music. They were both card-carrying members of the Shaun Cassidy Fan Club. Together, they would go over to Grandma and Grandpa’s house and stay overnight. There, they would make extravagant blanket forts over the huge dining room table and chair set. They even occasionally slept in that blanket fort.
When the family piled in to their RV to go camping at Banks Lake, for the five hour drive, their mom and dad would pop into the 8-Track player classic 1950s rock and roll: Elvis, The Platters, The Drifters, Patsy Cline. Her dad would play some old country music too: Buck Owens, Waylon Jennings, Roy Clark, etc. Dad belonged to the Western Bass Club, which had a fishing tournament at Banks Lake. The men would catch trout or bass and the wives would and clean and cook the fish over campfire. Polly loved nothing more than to go fishing with her dad. This was surely a highlight of her life.
After the family had moved to Auburn, Polly’s mom and dad decided that they would build a swimming pool with a diving board in the backyard. All the children were made to take swimming lessons. Polly really took to swimming. She swam in the pool every single day; not caring if she was shivering and cold. She was definitely a woman who loved the water.
Polly was really tender-hearted toward animals. Though she never had pets in her childhood, if there was an injured animal, Polly was that critter’s best advocate. Sometimes birds would fly into the big living room picture window. They would knock themselves out. One time Polly was so devastated at an injured bird that she recruited a friend to come and help take the injured bird to the vet. She just had a big heart for animals in distress.
From early on in her life Polly exhibited that she wanted to be her own person, to forge her own path. Her life wasn’t always smooth because of her nonconformity. She was a proud dance mentor, and one of her students went on to win a Channel 9 dancing contest. Polly chose AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long” for the competition, and she was sanctioned for a time because of her choice of this subversive song.
Music was a big part of her life, with The Beatles “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” possibly being her favorite song. She loved their Abbey Road album. Norman, her fiancé, said that a week and a half before she passed she bought a brand-new CD player. He’d given her a good set of headphones and so for her last week she declared she was in heaven because, in her words, “I got my music back!”.
In addition to her love of dancing, and she taught Norman many dance floor moves, Polly loved to do Karaoke. Her favorite karaoke songs to sing were Stevie Nicks, because her voice was so close to Stevie’s.
Polly expressed her love and care of Norman through cooking. She also told him often that she loved him, but she expressed her love of him concretely by cooking some of Norman’s favorite dishes, including lasagna. Her son recently asked Norman if he knew the secret ingredients for her “favorite dinner” recipe, which was her favorite too. “Favorite dinner” was a kind of cream chicken over rice with cheese in it.
She was a fiercely loyal mother to Nicholas, her son. She wanted the world for him. Despite rough patches along the way, Polly always poured out her mother’s love to him and was his biggest advocate. She always stood firmly in her declaration that “Nickie is my son” and that her motherhood was endlessly devout.
Despite struggling in her last years with failing health, Polly prided herself in being able to take care of herself. She had an independent streak and only stopped cooking the very last week before her passing.
Polly passed away with her fiancé Norman by her side on May 22, 2020. She was 48 years old. She is preceded in death by her mother Elizabeth R. Blattner.
She is survived by her father William Blattner, stepmother Samantha Blattner, by her three siblings Catherine Blattner, Joseph Blattner, and Suzanne Reynolds. She also leaves behind her only son Nicholas Blattner and her partner of 20 years, Norman Edwards.
We will miss this woman Polly, but we will cherish our best memories of her in our hearts forever. ..
In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to your local food bank or Shriners Hospital, which Polly supported. A committal service for Polly will take place on Monday, June 22, at 2:00 PM at Forest Lawn Funeral Home.
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