Milwaukee musician Cecilio Negrón, Jr. remembered with community concert
MILWAUKEE - Finding strength in each other, friends and family gathered Sunday, June 18 to remember Milwaukee musician Cecilio Negrón, Jr., who passed away in May at the age of 47.
Negrón's sister, daughter and bandmates said they're still grieving, and some nights are harder than others, but for a family so accustomed to music, a community concert on Sunday provided all the comfort they needed.
In the community strung together by music, harmony helped heal broken hearts on Jecilia Negrón's first Father's Day without her dad.
Cecilio Negrón, Jr.
"It's hard, but I just try to remind myself that he's still here, you know?" said Jecilia Negrón, daughter. "Today, we feel him. He's there drumming and dancing with us."
The 47-year-old musician and music teacher passed away due to heart failure. Cecilio Negrón, Jr. was a talented percussionist, first banging the drum at the age of 3, then later teaching people to play.
His father, Cecilio Negrón, Sr., taught him to play.
"My brother and my dad banged those drums in our house every single day," said Maritza Ramos, sister. "He got a drum set when he was younger. He was in the basement banging those drums, self-taught, but this is our life. This is what we grew up on."
SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News
Music is what they grew up on, and it's what they're leaning on in his absence.
The family pulled together a celebration of life on Sunday, featuring a handful of Latino performers. David Wake shared the stage with Negrón in the band they co-founded, De La Buena.
"When you watch the man play music, it's just like, impossible to take your eyes off him," said Wake. "Just a complete spark plug, lightning in a bottle."
Cecilio Negrón, Jr.
Family and friends hope Negrón's love of music can march on without the man who made it.
"I think he just had his sole purpose, and that was it, and he fulfilled it," said Jecilia Negrón.
"We can cry together, but it's OK to celebrate, too," said Wake. "It's OK to let that joy in because that's what things like this and music bring us."
The family said they're thinking about making the community concert an annual event to keep Cecilio Negrón, Jr.'s legacy alive in Milwaukee.