Frank Hazuka was born October 29th, 1928 in Omaha, Nebraska, and has lived in Omaha all of his life.

From the words of Frank Hazuka:

“I took accordion lessons for 7 years and hated every lesson I took! My buddies were outside waiting for me to come out and play. I was inside, a half hour practicing every day. Every time someone came over to visit my folks, my dad would have me play the Beer Barrell Polka or The Prague Song. Finally, I quit taking lessons and let the accordion sit for 25 years until our first dance job in the basement of Sts. Peter & Paul School.

In the spring of 1968 in the basement of Sts. Peter & Paul, The Frank Hazuka Polka Band made its debut. The original band consisted of Frank Hazuka on accordion, Jim Poulicek on tenor sax, Father Novotny on trumpet, Dick Janail on bass and Leonard Janak on drums. That evening we knew about 10 or 11 polkas and 3 or 4 waltzes, we just kept playing them over and over. Our pay that night was nothing.
Two months later, we got hired by the same club and that evening we got $50. The rest of the year we played once a month.

As the band continued, Tony Maratsky took over for Father Novotny on trumpet and baritone. We began to book dance after dance, it was amazing! When we were going full blast with the band, we wre playing over a 100+ jobs a year. To me that was almost unbelievable!

Over the years, so many musicians have helped me: Pete & Eddie Janak, Father-In-Law & Brother-In-Law; good friends, Don Hamsa, George Hovorka, and many, many more.”

Source: Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony