 He was the son of Johann "John" Soucek, who had been born in Ovčáry, Bohemia (then part of the Austria-Hungary, now in the Czech Republic), but had emigrated to the United States at the age of 7 with his family.Arriving in June 1875 aboard the Norddeutscher Lloyd ship , the family—Mathias, Maria, and their six children—first settled in Nebraska, then moved to Kansas, before taking part in the Cherokee Strip Land Run in 1893, and settling in Medford.Soucek entered the United States Naval Academy in 1918 and served with the rank of midshipman aboard the battleship during World War I.