Category Accordionist Deaths

From the Jackson Citizen Patriot January 27th, 2010.

Daniel Sitko spent much of his life with an accordion in his hands.

An avid musician, Sitko spent some of his childhood evenings sitting on his family’s front porch playing the instrument, friends said.

“He found music comforting,” said his wife, Mary Sitko.

Sitko, a longtime member of the Jackson polka band the Hy-Notes, was killed Saturday in a traffic accident in Palm Springs, Calif. He was 64.

Sitko was walking across a road around 8 p.m. Pacific time Saturday when he was struck by a vehicle, according to Palm Springs police. He was pronounced dead at Desert Regional Medical Center later that evening, The Desert Sun newspaper reported.

The investigation into the accident is ongoing, and no criminal complaints have been filed, according to police.

Sitko started playing accordion with the Hy-Notes about 35 years ago. He also played organ and occasionally keyboard for the group.

When the band’s original accordion player left to join the military, band member Andrew Wrozek suggested Sitko take his place.

He played with the band for more than 25 years, taking a short hiatus when his sons were born, said Wrozek, who was raised near Sitko. He stopped playing with the Hy-Notes about seven years ago, Wrozek said.

“He just enjoyed playing polkas,” said Wrozek, who also is Jackson city treasurer. “He liked to watch people dance and be happy.”

Sitko bought a home in Palm Springs shortly before he retired from Consumers Energy about six years ago, Mary Sitko said. The pair spent their winters in Palm Springs and summers in Jackson.

“He visited and liked the area and the weather out (in Palm Springs),” said his brother, Richard Sitko, 67, of Jackson.

Friends and family called Daniel Sitko a friendly and outgoing man who would go out of his way to help people he knew.

Sitko is survived by his wife; sons John, Steve and Philip Sitko; three granddaughters; two brothers; and a sister.

Funeral arrangements in Jackson are being made by the Desnoyer Funeral Home, 204 N. Blackstone St.

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