The Baraquio Bunch

November 16, 2007
By Melissa Moniz

To the outside world we all grow old. But not to brothers and sisters. We know each other as we always were. We know each other’s hearts. We share private family jokes. We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys. We live outside the touch of time. - Clara Ortega

It’s quite a math equation:

Seven girls plus three boys equals 10 siblings, add 10 bachelor’s degrees and three master’s degrees, multiplied by one television show, one Miss America crown and one soon-to-be-released album. The answer to this equation isn’t a number, but a name - meet the Baraquios - Cecilia, Jerome, Lucy, John, Therese, Bernadette, Rose, Angela, Albert and Gloria.

All their own individual talents, accomplishments and time spent in the spotlight aside, the Baraquios now share a special achievement - a full-length album that announces to the world the timeless bond of a sibling and the love that is forever.

The album, Lost and Found, is an inspirational piece produced in memory of their brother, Albert, who passed away Nov. 28, 2006 at the age of 28. The release, which marks one year since his death by suicide in San Francisco, features a compilation of songs written and performed by his nine siblings.

“There is one major theme, and that major theme is go forward in life,” says John Baraquio, executive producer of the family’s new music label, Tribute Records, and the fourth of the Baraquio siblings.

“It came with how I was feeling after the death of my brother. How I was feeling came down on paper. I was tired of feeling crappy and wanted to start moving forward, and so that’s how I came up with my three songs. Everyone brought their own songs, and it just turned out to be the same frequency and same page, which is moving forward and celebrating life rather than focusing on a tragedy.”

After the death of their youngest brother, the Baraquios looked to their faith and family for the strength to get them through the pain. And they soon discovered that it was music that they needed to release some of the heavy emotions.

“A lot of people who have experienced suicide with a loved one, these people don’t find an outlet, and every year it opens up those old wounds again,” says Jerome Baraquio, the second-oldest sibling. “So what we’re trying to do with this album is offer people an outlet to see that they can relate to someone they know. Hopefully it will offer a little bit of solace and comfort.”

“We also want to make a point that we’re not glorifying suicide or saying that we support what he did,” says Bernadette Baraquio Hamada (the sixth sibling, but only by eight minutes following twin sister Therese, known to the family as Tess)."What we’re trying to do is give people hope and show them there’s a value of life. And we’re trying to let people know that if you need help, there are always places to go and people to talk to.”

The album has 13 tracks, including nine originals, four written by Bernadette, three written by John, one written by Tess and one written by Angela and her husband, Tinifuloa Grey. Two of the cover tracks, The Anniversary Song and Rainbow, were chosen for the album because they are the two songs they always performed as a family since they were children.

“After we lost Albert, it was a very tough time for our family,” says Bernadette."We found that when we were going through the depression and the different feelings of anger, grief and mourning, that music was really our only source of comfort besides our faith. We used to play music in church and stuff, but we took a break from music so it’s been a while before we’ve played music together. We hadn’t written songs for years, and when he passed, the songs just started to come, it started to flow. These songs just seemed to come out of nowhere and I know it was Albert helping us through these tough times. We didn’t ever think,’Let’s go do an album so we can sell some CDs.’ It was a way for us to express ourselves and get through that pain.”

“The only way we could heal is to create something that was full of life, and I think Albert was shining down on us the whole time,” adds Tess.

The November release date has a lot of meaning to the family. It’s a time to remember the last Thanksgiving they all shared together as a family, it marks a year since Albert’s passing, and is also the month of Albert’s birthday (Nov. 15).

“The thing about Albert, he was 28 years old, he just turned 28 when he died, and that was 28 beautiful years,” says Tess. “Even the last two weeks we were able to spend with him when he came back to Hawaii. These are the times that we want to remember. He had a whole life, and he made one decision that affected all that, that we had to lose. Every year that we remember this, and every time we play this album we’ll always remember how much we love him. He’s always going to be our brother whether he’s here on this Earth or in heaven.”

The family has a special performance scheduled for Nov. 23

from noon to 1 p.m. at Ala Moana Centerstage, where they will for the first time come together to perform the songs from their album. The emotional reunion will be one more step in the healing process for the family.

“As the date gets closer to his anniversary date a lot of us are getting more and more emotional because once the holidays hit, it’s natural for people to remember previous holidays and how we had such a great time last Thanksgiving,” says Bernadette. “Everybody was together, and it will be so noticeable that he isn’t going be here this year. And yes, we have been in the studio for hours and hours playing the same songs, but when I hear it as it gets closer to the date, how I felt when I wrote it and how I feel when I hear it, it’s going to be very emotional and it’s going to be very important for all of us to be together that week. Anyone who has lost someone during the holidays will understand.”

Just as music filled their lives as children, the Baraquios hope that their music also filtrates to the hearts of those who hear it. As children, Rose recalls their mom’s firm beliefs about piano lessons and singing.

“My mom was very adamant about having all of us take piano lessons; she forced us pretty much,” says Rose."And she forced us to sing in church. We’ve been doing that since we could barely walk. We were at Saint Augustine singing as a family for about 15 years until it became too much to handle with all the kids and people living other places. The congregation got to know us as the family that sang together. And everyone would always ask us when we were coming out with a CD.”

With 14 of their own children, busy work schedules and siblings scattered throughout California and Hawaii, the Baraquios found that time seemed to be the primary obstacle in their hopes to one day make an album together. After Albert’s passing they were instantly reminded that life is too short to put anything on the back burner. So they took their experience from performing at church, their God-given talents, the piano lessons and their heavy emotions to create what many church friends often described as “angels singing.”

Although they modestly admit that they don’t exactly sound like angels individually (just collectively), Bernadette says that everyone can “at least carry a tune.” This makes karaoke time at their weekly family parties as competitive as it is fun. As Jerome puts it,"It’s a battle and if you don’t get 100, you’re not even worthy. You’ve gotta give the mic up to the next person.”

But before there was music in the Baraquio household growing up, one other thing came first - education. Their parents, Claudio and Rigolette, put every penny that they earned into their children’s Catholic private school education.

“Our parents are the pillars of the family,"says Bernadette."They taught us everything we know, and if they didn’t teach us directly, they found the people to help us get educated. Everyone is college-educated and everyone has been able to accomplish their dreams because of what my mom and dad sacrificed.”

Cecilia is a licensed marriage and family therapist in California, Jerome is a commercial account manager for Grainger Industrial Supply, Lucy is a senior design manager for Starbucks Coffee International in Washington, John is president of Able Pest Exterminators, Tess is president and owner of Harmony Productions, Bernadette is manager and owner of Just a Girl Productions, Rose is manager of consumer affairs at Hawaiian Airlines, Angela (the former Miss America) is an inspirational speaker, writer and talent/model in California, and Gloria is working with the Hawaii Academy of Arts and Sciences on the Big Island. Before his passing, Albert was a loan officer at Wells Fargo Bank in California.

“As a family, this album is the biggest achievement that we’ve done together,"says Tess."The fact that we all got together in different parts of the world, with all of our families and all of our schedules, to put this project together as a family was truly an amazing feat for all of us.”

The writing, recording and now release of the album has truly been a healing process for the Baraquio siblings. They have channeled their grief, confusion and disbelief into something positive that they hope will help others who have been through similar experiences.

“There’s such a taboo against suicide, and people’s loved ones who have committed death by suicide want to keep it hush hush,” says Rose."And, as we said, we don’t want to proclaim it to the world, but for people who have been through it to say to them,’it’s not your fault.’ So many people want to take the blame and take the guilt, and question through their whole lives,’how could I have stopped that from happening?’ It’s not about that. They made a choice. Now, what can I do to move on?

“This CD is a great way to say that we’re not going to carry the guilt, but we are going to put out the word and hopefully some good comes from it.”