He was born Slavko Romčević to a Serbian family in the small village of Stipan near Lasinja, Croatia in what was then the Kingdom of Yugoslavija . Romcevich arrived to the United States in 1922 as a 16-year old, joining his brother, Gjuro (George) Romčević who emigrated and arrived in the United States first.
Slavko Romčević was born into a Serbian family in Stipan, Croatia, then part of Yugoslavia. He moved to the US in 1922 at age 16, joining his brother George, who had arrived earlier.