A Special Reflection by Darren Dunn
(Seguin) — There were years where I spent a lot of time with my buddy, Roscoe Gonzales — late nights at his makeshift television studios as he worked on projects of all sorts. His video production work in Seguin really started with recording services for Second Baptist Church and having those played back on the cable access channels. The church services were important to him, but Roscoe wanted to do something more — something maybe for the children in Seguin. Roscoe had this big idea to create a television show featuring local kids doing great things. It was all tilted in a positive direction. The production values were not always super high, but this self-taught videographer had an idea, and he would make it happen. Several people, like me, volunteered to help, but he was the driving force behind all Clubhouse Productions features. The program started taping at the church owned by the Baptist Ministers Union. The church is the only building standing at what once was Guadalupe College — a Black college located here in Seguin off Highway 90. These kids who participated in Clubhouse got to experience all sorts of things, like an aviation simulator, but more importantly — they got to share their voices, ideas, and talents with the rest of the world. This all happened before social media was a thing, and it became easy to share videos with the world. Roscoe had that vision, and he made it happen.
Roscoe was also instrumental in capturing each MLK Day celebration in Seguin. Roscoe would videotape everything from the MLK Freedom March to the dinner and fashion shows. If it was part of Seguin’s celebration of Dr. King, you can bet that Roscoe was there with his cameras.
He forever offered his services at Second Baptist Church. Roscoe was also a longtime deacon there. He loved his church and his church family. His faith led him to what may be one of his most memorable productions. Roscoe wanted to produce a Gospel album featuring local talent. He got with his brother-from-another-mother, Lupe Gonzales, to work this out. If Lupe’s name sounds familiar, it should. Lupe, who’s not related to Roscoe, was one of the famous Gonzales brothers from Seguin, who made up the Tejano super band Tierra Tejana.
Tierra Tejana is internationally known and is a longtime member of the Tejano Music Hall of Fame. Lupe, Roscoe, and many others, including professional Gospel recording artist John Harding, all came together one evening at First Baptist Church to record the album “Reaching Out To You.”
It was an amazing feat. Not just the work that went into recording a live album but also all the post-production work that went into the final product. It’s still one of my favorite Gospel albums. Just a couple of months ago, Roscoe gave me another copy of it when my old copy went missing.
He was a force for so many good things. That includes putting together an amazing video project that helped to tell Seguin’s story after the flood of 1998. Roscoe worked closely with producer Janice Jarutowicz, a Seguinite who had worked on the television show COPS. The pair got Lupe and Seguin music legend Dottsy Dwyer to perform the music along with the video feature. It all ended with a live music performance, including a community choir at the Coliseum. It still all gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. Yeah, Roscoe did that!
Roscoe’s faith was really the essence of his being. His faith led him to look for the best in people, even when it wasn’t always on display. I recall once, many years ago, Roscoe convinced me that I needed to help him with a private job. He was good at convincing people to help him with things (usually at the last minute). This was a gig to record some band that was playing at some dive bar in Canyon Lake. We were probably the only Black faces in the crowd. That’s not totally unusual, so I shrugged it off and took my place behind the camera. After the band’s first set, I looked up and noticed a bunch of signs and other items tacked up to the ceiling. One of the signs was an advertisement for the “National White Alliance,” which included a phone number. I was immediately ready to go. I pointed it out to Roscoe, and in typical fashion, he just shook his head and said he would finish the job. He got me to settle down. We finished the job and then went home.
Roscoe was a gentle giant. He was a very big man, but what loomed larger than his physical presence was his heart. He was always kind and caring. He did a lot for Seguin. Some of those things may have been forgotten, but we should not forget Roscoe and all that he meant to so many of us during his 69 years on this Earth. Thank you, Brother Roscoe.
A memorial service for my friend will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, January 28, at Second Baptist Church on Guadalupe Street.