On Saturday Nov. 14 Fred Scherz Sr., founding member of the Jagermeister-sponsored, Fritz’s Polka Band from Verona passed away after a brave battle with liver cancer.
Calling hours will be held from 2 to 4p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday Nov. 18 at the Prince, Boyd and Hyatt Funeral Home in Rome.
The service will be held Thursday Nov. 19 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Peter's Church in Verona. Close friends and family will attend a reception at the Verona Fire Hall.
“I am absolutely crushed by my Dad’s passing,” said Fritz Scherz, bandleader of FPB. “My Dad was a real role model, as I learned so much from him.”
Fritz said his father’s talent on the accordion was widely recognized, too, as in 2004, he became the first person in New York State to be inducted into the Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame in Euclid, Ohio. He took pride, too, in being the oldest member of a band that was sponsored by Jagermeister, Fritz said of his father.
“Sadly, he got diagnosed with stage four liver cancer toward the end of August and he never recovered,” Fritz said. “It turns out his last performance with Fritz’s Polka Band was Oct. 1, 2009, when we did a Big Joe Polka Show TV taping in Buffalo, N.Y. He really shined that day on stage.
“Aside from missing him because he was my Dad, I’ll also miss his great accordion playing and incredible harmonies he’d come up with,” he said. “Nobody will ever replace my Dad.”
