DULUTH — Florian Chmielewski, famed for his polka prowess and longtime service in state government, died Tuesday at age 97. According to an obituary shared by his family, Chmielewski had been experiencing congestive heart failure and "passed away peacefully" at his home in Sturgeon Lake.
As a longtime member of the Chmielewski Funtime Band, the musician helped preserve and celebrate a musical tradition with deep roots in the state's European settler communities. His band toured widely, recorded extensively and became television's Partridge Family of polka.
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"It's just like a piece of history is missing," said the artist's daughter, Patty Chmielewski, reflecting on the end of her father's life. "He never stopped. He had two settings: full speed and sleep."
Florian Chmielewski also served in the Minnesota Senate from 1971-1997, representing the districts encompassing Sturgeon Lake, and served as president of that body during a special session in 1987. As listed by the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, his special areas of concern were employment, health care, housing and veterans' affairs.
The inheritor and steward of family traditions in music, agriculture and public service, Chmielewski was beloved by audiences — representing, to many, the cheerful face of a longstanding community tradition of "old-time" music and social dance.
"Polka music is happy music," Florian Chmielewski told the Cloquet Pine Journal in 2014. "There's no sadness in it." Chmielewski played well into his 90s, saying he would consider retiring when he reached 100.
One of 15 siblings, Florian Chmielewski was born in 1927 on his family farm in Sturgeon Lake. The family's musical tradition stretched back to Chmielewski's grandfather, a fiddler originally from Poland. "My dad only spoke Polish until the fifth grade," said Patty Chmielewski.
Florian Chmielewski began playing accordion in his teens, forming a band with his brothers. After serving in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War, Chmielewski brought his talents to the airwaves, performing in radio and television programs. The "Chmielewski Funtime" TV show, airing in syndication in markets across the United States and Canada, would turn the accordionist and his family members into national polka celebrities.
Duluth is "where it all began" for the family's multimedia fame, said Patty Chmielewski. "My dad started on radio at WKLK." Florian Chmielewski's first television show, "The Polish TV Party," launched in 1955 on Duluth's WDSM-TV.
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At the peak of the family's television success, Patty Chmielewski remembered, "We were like the Beatles ... girls would be jumping in the windows, trying to get hold of my brothers. It was crazy. Who would ever think? But that was back in the '70s, and it's a tribute to Duluth."
Florian Chmielewski's musical success helped elevate a political career that led to the state senate. "He said he couldn't be a senator, he (didn't) believe, without the accordion," said Patty Chmielewski.
In St. Paul, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor legislator embraced his identity as "the Swinging Senator" (the title of one of his many record albums, featuring a cover photo of Chmielewski standing outside the State Capitol) and even used his music to build bridges across party lines.
At one point, said Patty Chmielewski, referencing her father's memoir "0 to 90," Florian Chmielewski pulled out his accordion during a Senate impasse; the frustrated politicians improvised lyrics to a song about being stuck.
"It just changed the whole demeanor of everything," said Patty Chmielewski. "They went back in and voted, and it was done."
Though Florian Chmielewski worked at the Capitol alongside former Gov. Rudy Perpich, the pair's best-remembered intersection came at the 1978 launch of the Chmielewski International Polkafest in Pine City. A runner appeared with a torch, evoking the Olympics, and attempted a ceremonial handoff to the governor.
"Oil was dripping from the torch," remembered Patty Chmielewski, and as the prop was passed to the governor, "Boop! Rudy goes up in flames. He had this polyester suit on, and it just melted."
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The fire was extinguished without serious harm to the governor, and the festival went on to become a multi-decade tradition. In a 2015 News Tribune interview, Florian Chmielewski recounted the incident and said that Perpich quipped to him afterward: "Eleven attorneys called me. Since you're a good friend, I told nine to get lost."
While in office Chmielewski focused on bringing concrete results — state funding and projects — to his district. Though highly popular and "considered unbeatable" as an incumbent up to that point, the News Tribune reported in 1996, Chmielewski's legislative career ended that year when he lost a primary challenge after admitting he had allowed relatives to place long-distance phone calls at taxpayer expense.
After leaving office, Chmielewski continued to entertain for the remaining three decades of his life. He was inducted into the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame and was recognized in the Pioneer Division of the International Polka Association Hall of Fame.
As just one example of their statewide stardom, in 1989, Chmielewski family members performed alongside stars like the Jets at the Minnesota Music Awards in Minneapolis — and took home more prizes than Prince.
Chmielewski's familiar face and reliable good humor earned warm receptions at concerts and events, as his family band encompassed members of fourth, fifth and sixth generations.
"There wasn't anything he didn't tackle without a positive attitude," said Patty Chmielewski. "Everybody says, 'What a kind, what a gentle man.'"
Pat Chmielewski, the artist's wife of 47 years, died in 2003. The Chmielewski Funtime Band continues on, now led by Patty Chmielewski.
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Florian Chmielewski's shows always stoked an atmosphere of "togetherness," said Patty Chmielewski. "No matter where my dad was, he could create it. If you didn't know how to dance, he could talk you into dancing, and then you'd be happy that you did it."
A funeral for Florian Chmielewski will be held May 7 at St. Isidore's Catholic Church in Sturgeon Lake. For funeral and visitation details, see hhkfuneralhome.com.
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