Gerald R. Robotka

Robotka, Gerald R. Age 76, of Farmington Hills. April 22, 2016. Beloved husband of the late Constance. Loving father of Julie (Brooke) Trout and Sharon (Michael) Krause. Proud grandfather of Brittany, Jason, Kyle, Courtney and Chad. Step-father of Annie Del Gizzo, Jan Gilboy, Mary (Bill) Major and Jill Gilboy. Step-grandfather of 10. Dear brother of Donald (Carol) Robotka. Preceded in death by parents George and Stella Robotka. Inducted into the Michigan Polka Hall of Fame on September 16, 1988. Jerry loved his music and loved to perform. He started playing the accordion at age 9 and played at fairs, weddings, and dances. He was part of the Robotka Trio with his mother on violin and his brother on guitar. The Robotka Trio was formed in the mid 1950s and appeared throughout southeastern Wisconsin. In 1958, Jerry's idol, Frank Yankovic, asked him to join his band as second accordionist. They toured the U.S. and Canada, doing a weekly TV show in Columbus, Ohio and recording for Columbia Records. In 1959, he left the Yankovic band and entered college in Detroit, joining Matt Gouze and his Tamburitzans. They performed thought the upper mid-west. Jerry graduated college in June, 1964 and started his own band in the Detroit area. He was also part of the Art Walunas Polka Band and recorded three albums with Art, including the first U.S. recording of "No Beer in Heaven". In the early 1970s, Jerry's band released two albums of polka and waltz music. In 1991, while leafing through his grandfather's sheet music, he decided to record an album of all Czech music, gathering the songs from his grandfather's collection. In 1993, he released a second Czech album and a third Czech album in 1996. Jerry was a member of the Detroit Federation of Musicians, AFM Local 5 - the union for professional musicians in the Detroit area - for 51 years. Click on the multimedia tab to view Gerald's video tribute.