NANTICOKE — John “Stanky” Stankovic, the legendary Northeast Pennsylvania polka king who entertained millions of people from around the world for decades, died on Christmas Day. He was 89.
Stankovic, the longtime lead singer of the polka band “Stanky and the Coal Miners,” headlined countless Northeast Pennsylvania bazaars and sailed the world for decades as the starring entertainer on cruise ships.
“Every night Stanky ended the performance with the song ‘I don’t want to go home, don’t want to go home’ but today Stanky was called safely home.,” a posting on his band’s website announced. “He will be greatly missed by his family, friends and fans!!!.”
His coal miner father urged Stankovic to learn to play the accordion as a young boy rather than focusing on baseball. He told him if he learned 10 songs he could make a living for himself.
“I told him, ‘I’ll learn 11 and see the world.’ And I did,” Stankovic said in a 2019 interview.
Stankovic toured the world thanks to his accordion playing skills and wholesome polka songs.
He told his life story in an autobiography titled “Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie: The Story of Stanky and the Coal Miners.”
Back in his polka band’s heyday, Stankovic once had a globe-crossing marathon weekend. He performed in England on a Friday, at the Bloomsburg Fair that Saturday and then in Switzerland on Sunday. He once performed in front of one million people at a festival in Tiananmen Square in China. His polka band would pack cruise ships as the main act on excursions all across the world.
“We saw the entire world playing Polka music from Nanticoke Pennsylvania,” said Stankovic’s daughter Debbie Stankovic Horoschock, a trumpeter in his band.
For example, one day they would play in Nanticoke and the next day they would play in South Korea with little notice, Horoschock said.
“He loved entertaining people. He loved being around people. He had a great love for life. There is a heritage and a tradition to it. It’s music that lifts you up,” Horoschock said.
Stankovic was inducted into the International Polka Association’s Hall of Fame in August 2019. Earlier this year, he gained induction into the Luzerne County Arts and Entertainment Hall of Fame. Stankovic was also recognized for 60-plus years of serving the fire station in the city’s Hanover section.
Stankovic’s biggest supporter for most of his career was his wife of more than 60 years, Dottie, well known as Luzerne County’s long-time elected register of wills.
Dottie often took the stage with the band to sing, ring bells and play the violin. For decades, the couple hosted the “Pennsylvania Polka” show on WVIA public television, a show which televised people dancing to polka music.
Stankovic’s band name was originally the “Tip Toppers” until he changed it to “Stanky and the Coal Miners.”
While the name paid tribute to the area’s coal mining roots, for him it was literal.
Stankovic’s early band mates were all coal miners and he picked them up directly from the mines to go on gigs
“We used to pick them up and their faces were black, their clothes were black. We used to get to a job and they would wash their faces off in the restroom and then come out to play,” Stankovic recalled in a 2019 interview.
Hazleton native Jan Lewandowski, one of the world’s most famous polka musicians who was portrayed by actor Jack Black in the 2017 movie “Polka King,” said he was saddened to hear about the news of Stankovic’s death.
They rose the ranks together in the business and often played together at Polka events across the country.
“Stanky was a very close friend to me. He was one of the people who supported me. It was sad news,” said Lewandowski, 83, who now primarily resides in Palm Beach, Florida. “It’s a loss of one of the best polka leaders. He was a very good man. He was everyone’s friend.”
Lewandowski, known professionally as “Jan Lewan,” said Stankovic gave him the single best piece of advice during his career.
During his performances, Lewan said he did covers of Bobby Vinton’s song “My Melody of Love.” Vinton was more famous than both and known nationally as “the Polish Prince.”
Stankovic said Lewandowski told him he did such a good job with the song — maybe even better than Vinton — he should close his shows with it instead of playing it near the beginning.
“It always came back to me what John Stanky said about the ‘Melody of Love.’ ‘You should sing it in the end and not the beginning.’ The ‘Melody of Love’ has been going on through my career because of what Stanky said,” Lewandowski said.
Plymouth Councilwoman Alexis Eroh, the leader of the nonprofit group Plymouth Alive, said Stankovic, was a great man. He performed at the Plymouth Alive Kielbasa Festival from the beginning.
“John Stanky was a living polka legend and a Plymouth Alive was so fortunate to have his incredible talents at the Kielbasa Festival for over 20 years,” Eroh said.
State Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-121, of Wilkes-Barre, who was a musician on the side of his teaching career, said Stankovic was a legend.
“When I was a kid, the polka music was ‘thee’ music. You would hear it on a Sunday afternoon and all day at your house,” Pashinski said.
Pashinski said Stankovic changed the world and industry. .
“Because of John Stanky’s talent, John exposed everyone who heard him to polka music. He shared it all over the United States and beyond. Now he’s known worldwide. I have great admiration for him,” Pashinski said. “He’s a legend.”
Stankovic’s band inspired a new generation of local Polish band members, the group “Polka Bandski.”
The band leader Dan Van Why said Stankovic was an inspiration.
“He’s a legend,” Van Why said. “He’s one of the last giants of polka in the region.”
