Sy Wallach was a pioneer in educating children with learning disabilities and also was a trombonist with the former Denver Symphony Orchestra.
He was 92 when he died March 2.
Wallach was a founder of the Colorado Council for Exceptional Children more than 40 years ago and was on the council’s board of governors, as well as the international Council for Exceptional Children board.
The organization has conferences to help teachers and others who work with children with learning disabilities.
“He was a gentle giant,” said Sherry Meschko of Aurora, the historian for the council. He still was attending meetings at age 90, she said.
A native of the Bronx, N.Y., Wallach got a scholarship to the Juilliard School of Music and studied there for a year. Sinus problems, however, led his doctors to recommend that he move to Arizona.
Wallach earned bachelor’s degrees in music and in chemistry at the University of Arizona and served in World War II for five years as a surgical technician.
While in the service, he played trombone with an Air Force band. He later earned a master’s degree and a doctorate in special education at the University of Denver.
Wallach played trombone in the Denver Symphony from 1945 to 1950 and taught piano lessons until his arthritis became too severe in his 80s for him to play, said a daughter, Joan Wallach of Denver.
“He was quiet, humble and immensely perseverant,” said his grandson Ben Kapnik of Denver, in his eulogy.
Wallach also was a man with quips. When a doctor said he wanted to give him steroid injections, Wallach asked, “Do you think this will ruin my baseball career?”
Seymour Wallach was born July 21, 1915, and graduated from high school in Brooklyn.
While stationed at Fitzsimons Army Hospital, he met Merrily Cohen on a blind date. She was a local actress who appeared with several Hollywood stars, including Tab Hunter and Virginia Mayo. Merrily Wallach also started a Shwayder Theater program that put on plays in local elementary schools.
The two married on Aug. 27, 1942.
Sy Wallach taught for 17 years and was assistant principal at Swansea Elementary School. He helped found the Council for Exceptional Children in the 1960s. After teaching, he was a consultant on mental retardation for the Colorado Department of Education and then director of special education at Cherry Creek Schools.
In addition to his wife and daughter, he is survived by another daughter, Deanne Kapnik of Denver; two sons, Andrew Wallach of Denver and Daniel Wallach of St. John, Kan.; seven grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
Virginia Culver: 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com
