AWW is sad to report the passing of accordionist Joseph M. Grkman Sr., 89, of Yukon, Pa., on Friday, May 23, 2014, at Paramount Senior Living in McMurray. Born April 19, 1925, in Yukon, he was a son of the late John and Mary (Hobat) Grkman. Prior to his retirement, he was employed by Consol Coal. He was a veteran of World War II, having served with the Army.
Joe played his accordion and performed Slovenian polka and waltz music for more than half a century. He was a 1997 Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Fellowship recipient, recognizing his lifetime achievements in cultural preservation through musical performance.
He was a National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Fellowship Nominee and had been inducted into the American Slovenian Polka Foundation Hall of Fame as a Lifetime Achievement Honoree and was on the Trustees’ Honor Roll. He was a member of Seven Dolors Catholic Church in Yukon and a member of the SNPJ Lodge No. 117 of Yukon, having served as secretary and treasurer of the Lodge.
The Joe Grkman Band included three generations of the Grkman family. Polka dancers voted them winners of the first Western Pennsylvania “Band of the Year” Award in 1998. The group featured traditional Slovenian polkas and waltzes along with their original “GRKMANIA” style Slovenian button box accordion music. They have released several albums which have received international critical acclaim. The Joe Grkman Band composed and recorded on Grammy nominated albums both in 1997 and 1998.
Joe Grkman Jr. was a 1998 Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Fellowship recipient and was proclaimed the “Button Box King” by the United Federation of Polkas in California. The International Polka Association in Illinois defined Joe’s music as “the ultimate in button box music.” The Grkman Band was selected to represent Pennsylvania folk arts and honored in a featured “Grkmania” concert in 1997 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by four brothers, John, Frank, Tony and Lou; and a sister, Mary Grkman. Surviving is his wife of 65 years, Elsie (Lazar) Grkman; two sons, Joseph M. Grkman Jr. and his wife, Denise, of Venetia, and Steven G. Grkman, of Greensburg; granddaughter, Lindy Grkman; grandson, Michael Grkman and his wife, Allison; and three great-grandchildren, Benjamin, Luka and Niko.
Mr. Grkman’s funeral Mass was held at Seven Dolors Catholic Church in Yukon, with Father Jonathan Wisneski as celebrant. Interment was in the West Newton Cemetery.
