Mourners gather for accordian master's funeral

HARLINGEN — An accordion’s sweet melody drifted over Ruben Vela’s casket Friday as some of tejano’s top stars played his hits to honor the conjunto legend who inspired generations of musicians.

Epi Martinez of Los Frijoles Romanticos played the bajo sexto as he and other stars gathered around the casket before Vela’s burial at Restlawn Memorial Park in La Feria.

“It was very emotional. It felt real good to share the songs with him. It kind of consoles our hearts. It heals me. His music heals people,” Martinez said. “Since I was a little boy, I studied his groove. Ruben inspired a lot of people. He planted a lot of seeds on all of us.”

Jesse Turner of Grupo Siggno played the gospel classic One Day at a Time, the song Vela said he wanted to record two days before he died.

“I don’t know if that was a message he was trying to get out to us,” said his son Ruben Vela Jr., the band’s drummer. “Years back, people tried to pay him to sing gospel songs, but that wasn’t his thing.”

The elder Vela died Tuesday of liver disease at Valley Baptist Medical Center, a family friend said. He was 72.

Rogelio Botello Rios gathered with friends to remember the man who used to perform on his radio show.

“I have great memories of Ruben and his family,” Botello said as crowds gathered at the cemetery. “He had two special things: He was very charismatic and very talented. He’s a legend. The music of Ruben Vela is still in our hearts.”

A crowd of about 1,500 gathered for a funeral service at Faith Pleases God Church in Harlingen, where family and friends took the stage to remember the master accordionist whose career spanned a half-century.

“This man had an impact on many people,” the Rev. Juan Salinas told the crowd. “He lived one day at a time and he enjoyed every day like it was his last, because tomorrow may not come.”

Jimmy Bejarano remembered the elder Vela as the star who asked him to take the stage to play the bajo sexto.

“He was a man who gave so many people so many breaks,” said Bejarano, a bajo sexto player from Toledo, Ohio. “The music was secondary. He’s still a good man. I’m going to miss him and I’m one of thousands.”

Ruben Garza remembered the elder Vela as the mentor who helped him pave the way for a career as a singer and bajo sexto player.

“Ruben Vela was a person who’d say, ‘Do it from the heart, whatever you do in life,’” Garza told the crowd. “Ruben Vela is not gone; he’s with us. May you never forget.”

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Fernando Del Valle is a reporter for the Valley Morning Star in Harlingen.