Wilbur E. Wamsley; repaired violins, cellos

Wilbur E. Wamsley, 57, an expert craftsman who restored rare violins, violas, and cellos in his Haddonfield shop, died of cancer Saturday, Feb. 12, at his home in Cherry Hill.

He started his business in his basement in 1991 and developed a reputation for skillfully patching splits, cracks, and gouges and mixing pigments and resins to create a varnish that looked centuries old.

Mr. Wamsley, who had a black belt in karate, told The Inquirer in 1991 that in violin repair - as in the martial arts - concentration and contemplation are essential.

"When I work on an instrument like this, time sort of stops for me," he said while holding a 300-year-old violin.

In 1998, he opened W.E. Wamsley Restorations Inc. in Haddonfield. The firm, which employs several craftsmen, specializes in the sale, repair, and appraisal of rare and contemporary instruments in the violin family.

Mr. Wamsley, who also taught how to make and repair violins, lectured and published articles on the subjects and had been interviewed on National Public Radio.

In 1994, he testified in a federal tax case on behalf of the owner of a 300-year-old string bass. Mr. Wamsley argued successfully that the musician who owned it should be allowed to continue to report a depreciating value for the bass, despite its age, because it was in use and needed ongoing reinforcement and repairs.

The Swarthmore native, who graduated from Penncrest High School, was "pretty klutzy with my hands" and didn't do well in shop class, he told The Inquirer.

As a teenager, he started a rock band and played several instruments, including the accordion. Mr. Wamsley attended Eastern College until the school eliminated its music department, then worked as a carpenter, spending his off-hours studying classical violin and playing guitar in a bluegrass band.

After an injury ended his carpentry career in 1974, Mr. Wamsley took a job in the shipping department at William Moennig & Son, the former violin makers and restorers in Philadelphia. He eventually moved to the repair shop, where owner Bill Moennig and his technicians passed on their secrets.

For years, Mr. Wamsley took care of the 1743 Guarnerius del Gesu violin owned by Norman Carol, retired concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

"I would go to the shop and we would talk about violins and all kinds of curious subjects Wilbur was interested in," Carol said.

Mr. Wamsley was married to a former student of Carol's, Hirono Oka, a member of the first violin section of the Philadelphia Orchestra. They made a good couple, Carol said, because Oka could test the sound of the instruments her husband was repairing.

Besides his work, Mr. Wamsley's passion was his blue 1975 Dino 308 GT4 Ferrari, which won awards at car shows, his wife said.

Mr. Wamsley enjoyed the company of his golden retriever and snorkeling with his wife in the Caribbean. The couple had met on a ski trip and started dating several years later when Oka took her violin to Moennig & Son. They married in 1987.

In addition to his wife, Mr. Wamsley is survived by his parents, Wilbur and Alice, and brothers David and Brian.

A memorial service will be held at noon Monday, Feb. 21, at Kain-Murphy Funeral Home, 15 West End Ave., Haddonfield, where friends may call after 10.

Memorial donations may be made to the Joan Karnell Cancer Center at Pennsylvania Hospital, 230 W. Washington Square, Philadelphia 19106.