Life Member. String Bass
12/25/1919 – 2/26/2015

By the Poffenroth family

Hal was born on Christmas day in 1919 in Endicott Washington to John and Mae Poffenroth. Mae, was also born on Christmas day. Hal always said, “If it’s good enough for Jesus it’s good enough for me.”

While growing up in Endicott he was given the nickname of “Dutter,” and that name stuck with him for the rest of his life. Hal followed his three older brothers and a stepbrother and joined the Army Air Corps during WWII. Mae had five stars in her window, and all five brothers were in different branches of the service. While stationed at Blythe, California, he lost his left eye when he was hit with a piece of shrapnel. After spending a year in the Veterans Hospital in L.A. he was medically discharged from the Air Corps.

Using the GI Bill, Hal went on to study music at the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music. Hal was an accomplished bass player, both stand-up and electric; he also played drums and piano and had the most wonderful voice. Hal worked with many musicians in the Los Angeles and Hollywood area. One of his proudest moments was playing bass with the June Lynn trio at the Hollywood Palladium. At the time of his death Harold was a proud Lifetime Member of Musicians Local 47 in L.A.

He moved back to Washington in the 1950s and joined the Spokane music scene. Hal spent the next 20-some years with the Don Eagle Trio at the Ridpath Roof. During the summer the trio would go on the road and had a blast playing up and down the coast. One of their favorite places to play was Winnemucca, Nevada, where they made lifelong friendships.

During the swinging ’60s the Don Eagle trio had a weekly television show where Hal was known as the voice of Spokane. When Don retired, Hal formed his own band the Hal Poffenroth Trio with Amil Kyseth on piano and Ron Slama on drums. They played in the Spokane area for many years, most notably the Chinese Gardens and Hobart’s. Besides his wife Toni, children and grandchildren, music was his life and he continued to play around Spokane at age 90.