MARRERO
 In
ancient times people had only one name but as populations
grew, many individuals were given the same names and it became
difficult to know who was being talked about. In order
to reduce the confusion, individuals with the same name were
differentiated from one another by various
characteristics. Surnames were chosen from a
variety of sources - such as parentage, physical appearance
and geographical location.
It was
logical to associate an individual with his occupation and this
became a source of many Hispanic surnames. Names like "Carillero",
(cart maker) and "Molina" (miller),
"Guerrero" (warrior/soldier), "Torrero"
(bullfighter), "Escudero" (Squire), "Escobedo"
(sweeper) among many others, tell us what our
ancestors may have done for a living.
Marrero
means "hoe maker," which gives us a clue that our
Marrero ancestors may have been steel workers. The
surname at one time was also recorded as meaning
"dark-skinned" because the family that carried
the name were darker-skinned Spaniards who migrated from
Spain.
It is
believed that the
Marrero surname originated in Spain, but that it might also
have some Arabic or other middle-eastern history (this is still being
researched). The name is found heavily
today in Spain, the Canary Islands, Puerto Rico, the U.S.
Virgin Islands (primarily St. Croix, mostly migrants from Fajardo and Vieques, Puerto Rico) and in the United States.
Dominga
Herrera Marrero
My Great
Grandmother
About 1908, Fajardo, Puerto Rico - About 1978, Puerto Rico
(dates uncertain)
My great grandparents are Dominga HERRERA MARRERO
of Fajardo and Juan CAMACHO (also spelled Comacho) of Trujillo
Alto, Puerto Rico:
Dominga Herrera* Marrero was born about 1908 in Puerto
Rico. She was a negro woman and the mother of two boys and one
girl: Juana and Miguel Comacho Marrero and Rafael Lopez Marrero.
According to the 1930 U.S. Federal Census, Dominga lived in Norte
Fajardo, Puerto Rico in 1930. She was the head of the house hold,
22 years old, and was a cook for a private home. I am told that
Dominga was later employed as a public school cook, and retired shortly
before she fell ill and died. She was described as a Negro woman
with Indian features.
Little is known about my great grandfather
Juan Camacho. He was born in Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico
and employed as a house painter. He was the father of my
grandfather Miguel and his sister Juana.
Juan Comacho fell from
the roof of a house he was painting and died from his
injuries.
*Derived from the Spanish
"herrería," meaning place where ironwork is made, the Herrera surname means "worker in iron, a blacksmith." According to the Instituto Genealógico e Histórico
Latino-Americano, this Castellan surname originated in the Villa of
Pedraza, in the province of Segovia, in Castile and Leon, Spain.)
 Miguel Angel
Comacho Marrero
My Grandfather
1925, Fajardo, Puerto
Rico - 1982, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands
Painter,
tailor, television repair man, father and grandfather are
words that could be used to describe who Miguel Angel Comacho
MARRERO was. But the one word that defined Miguel most was
musician.
Miguel,
my paternal grandfather, was born on 29 Dec 1925 in Fajardo,
Puerto Rico to Juan COMACHO and Dominga Herrera MARRERO. He
was born with a voice from the heavens which would later allow
him to recognize his dream to become a musician. He taught himself to play the guitar, the piano, the saxophone and the trumpet.
But what he is most remembered for is his voice.
Although he focused most of his attention on music, this didn't stop
him from noticing beautiful women! Miguel charmed a young girl
named Hilda, also from Puerto Rico. Miguel and Hilda were
married very young and had three children. As a young father
and husband, Miguel continued to follow his dream. He sang in
night clubs across Puerto Rico and recorded with Latin bands.
In
1957, Miguel left Fajardo and traveled with a Puerto Rican
band to play in the night clubs on St. Thomas. When
the band was returning home, Miguel decided he was already
home and bid his band mates farewell. He found work with a
band in St. Thomas and sang nights at a club in Long Bay
(where the Pueblo Supermarket is today). It was there that he
met Violet who had just moved to St. Thomas herself. The
two fell in love and after a brief courtship, he asked for her
hand in marriage. Soon after, they were blessed with
the birth of their son, Aben.
Although
Miguel continued to sing while in St. Thomas, he used his
other talents to make money to support his family. He was an
artist and sold his paintings. Miguel was also a tailor and
repaired televisions. He would later tell his son, Aben (who
grew up to be a successful musician too), that
he developed many trades because "the music business was
fickle, and one always needed something to fall back on when
the music business got slow."
Unfortunately,
Miguel and Violet separated, and he left for New York
shortly after. On the stage of a club in New York, Miguel
again found love when he captured the attention of Dorothea
who is known as "Peaches". Peaches lived in New York but was
originally from Cuba. She not only spoke Spanish but also came from a musical family and shared Miguel's passion for
Latin music. Together, they enveloped themselves in the music
industry in New York. Miguel made side money doing commercials
for Mallory Furniture Store in New York, but continued to sing
at night. Their musical adventures in New York led them to meet Latin
music idols Tito Puente and Celia Cruz. Miguel devoted
almost every free moment in New York to singing and recording
music in New York. He and his wife adopted a son,
Steven, and
raised him together in New York and St. Thomas.
 In
the late 1970's Miguel learned that his mother, Dominga was
gravely ill in Puerto Rico. He rushed back to take care
of his mother during her last days until she passed away
in a hospital in Fajardo. She died holding her son,
Miguel. Dominga was laid to rest in
Puerto Rico, and after settling her estate, Miguel and his
wife returned to St. Thomas.
Not
long after his mother died, Miguel
himself fell ill. On 10 June 1983,
he passed away peacefully in his home on St. Thomas. He
was laid to rest in the Western Cemetery 2 on St. Thomas.
Miguel's
children are: Edilberto "Eddie", Julita, Alba, Aben
Sr., Joycelyn, Joylanda and Steven Duhon-Marrero (deceased). He
had one brother by his mother, Raphael "Raffy or Pepe"
Lopez, and a sister by both his mother and father, Juana
Comacho Marrero (deceased). Miguel
left his
siblings, children, grandchildren and many adoring fans to cherish his
memory. When asked about Miguel, his son Aben captured Miguel in these words:
- "One
thing about him that is worth mentioning, is his easy
going personality. He was a singer and enjoyed a certain
degree of notoriety that celebrities tend to have. Whenever
I was with him , wherever we would go , people always seemed
to like him. and in turn, like me as well. He had a
lot of friends and got along well with most of them. I
can't remember seeing him having an argument or anything
like that. So I liked to be around him. It was
easy to do."
He is remembered in the
community especially for his music
and singing with the popular band Milo and the Kings.
Miguel's best
selling hit, "Recuerdito," which means a "small
remembrance" is still a fan favorite. This synopsis of
Miguel's musical life is my tribute to him... "un
recuerdito" of my own.
Si ud es uno de los de los
decendientes de la familia "Marrero" de
Cuba, Puerto Rico, las Islas
Canarias o Espana, pues le pido el favor de
escribirme en el ingles o el espanol. Gracias.
CaribbeanKingdom@yahoo.com
 Carrying
on the musical legacy. . .
"Aben Marrero Runs
On Steel" -
The debut CD by Aben Marrero
Sr.!
Aben Marrero is one of the
Virgin Islands' premier Panmen with almost thirty years of
experience under his belt. Starting out in 1974 with
the Kirwan Terrace Renegades Steel band, he learned how to
play all the pans, how to arrange steel band music and how
to make and tune the instruments. In 1976, he helped
to form the Wesstars Steel band, of which he was appointed
Band Leader.
He is also a charter member
of the Territorial Court's Rising Stars Steel Orchestra,
which was formed in 1981. The orchestra is the
cornerstone of the Court's award winning juvenile
delinquency prevention program that won an award from the
Ford Foundation for its innovation approach to solving
problems in the community. Aben held the positions of Chief
Instructor and Tuner/Arranger during his 20 years with the
Rising Stars. He has traveled with the band to
California, New York, Taiwan and Japan as ambassadors of the
Virgin Islands.
 Aben played in Pan Is
Beautiful II, the World Steel Band Festival held in Trinidad
in 1987 with the Pan Jammers Steel band. He took part
in two National Panorama competitions in Trinidad in 1988
and 1989, while playing with the Potential Symphony Steel
Orchestra. He is also a repeat participant at Berklee
College of Music's annual Percussion Festival that is held
in Boston Massachusetts.
Aben graduated from the
University of the Virgin Islands in 1995 and went on to
become the first director of the UVI Steel band
Ensemble. The consummate Panman, he tunes, teaches,
performs and writes about pan. Although this recording
has been a long time in coming, it is just the
beginning. Like fine wine, the touch was not developed overnight,
but instead, matured slowly and has ripened to
perfection. Go ahead... Take a taste and see for
yourself why he has been called the Virgin Islands' best kept
secret.
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