Gerald Allen Trujillo, who was 45 when he choked to death during a meal Nov. 24 in Pueblo, became a musician before he learned to read, teaching himself to pick out songs on his guitar.
The son of mariachi musician George A. Trujillo and his late wife, Ceria Mondragon Trujillo, Gerald Trujillo grew up in a home where someone usually was playing music or listening to a recording. At age 4, he could play the guitar, and he became a proficient picker by the time he was in middle school.
Music defined the Trujillos’ life. Gerald Trujillo’s brothers and sisters all played at least one instrument. His older brother, George Trujillo, plays at clubs between Fort Collins and Trinidad, and his sister Catalina Mondragon Trujillo plays with her father in a mariachi band. When his mother died, Gerald Trujillo composed an evocative tune, “Mother’s Whisper.” It was played at her funeral and at a memorial last week for Gerald Trujillo.
His day job as a construction worker occasionally clashed with his budding career as a musician. Gigs often ended after midnight, and he played throughout southern Colorado.
“It was tough when he had to be at a construction site in Pueblo at 4 or 5 a.m.,” remarked his sister Catalina.
Because of the dust and clutter, construction sites were about the only place Gerald Trujillo didn’t bring his favorite guitar, a gleaming Fender Stratocaster.
He kept the Stratocaster in the front room of his Pueblo home. It was the first thing he saw when he came home from a site and the last thing he grabbed before going out on his own time.
“He was always ready to play,” his sister said. “That’s what we do when we get together as a family. We play music, and if we’re not playing music, we eat and listen to CDs. When he went to hear a band playing somewhere, usually they asked him to come play a song.”
Trujillo rarely declined such invitations. He hurried to the stage with the Stratocaster, swiftly examined the floor to locate the foot pedals and plugs, and looked up, ready to play.
On stage, he cut a romantic, approachable figure, his long, dark hair in a ponytail that dipped at the tip, sunglasses (“even in the dark,” his sister said), jeans and a T-shirt.
He was divorced from his first wife and engaged to marry his longtime girlfriend, Shelley Alarid.
Survivors include son Jeremy Alan Rodriguez of Pueblo; daughter Jessica Trujillo of Pueblo; sisters Luanne Trujillo and Catalina Trujillo, both of Pueblo; brothers George R. Trujillo of Denver and Greg Trujillo of Pueblo; and one granddaughter.
A memorial service was held last week at Zippers, a Pueblo pub packed with hundreds of musicians who played tributes well into the early morning.
Staff writer Claire Martin can be reached at 303-954-1477 or cmartin@denverpost.com.
