He was the man with “the golden voice,” but lost his gift about a year ago due to illness.
The family of entertainer Ernie Cruz Jr., still mourning his death earlier this week, now grieves the loss of the youngest Cruz brother, Guy, formerly of the Hoku Award-winning band Colon.
The 49-year-old singer-songwriter had been in Hilo Hospice for about two weeks when he died at 1:30 a.m. Friday of heart failure, said his sister, Desiree Cruz.
“He was an incredible, passionate, talented singer-songwriter who, with every performance, gave everything,” Cruz said from Hilo Friday. “He left it all out on the stage. I think people connected to him. He sang with his heart.”
Guy sang and played guitar as a member of Colon, the quartet created by Jake Shimabukuro and Lopaka Colon after their previous band, Pure Heart, lost its singer and guitarist. Bassist Andrew McLellan joined Colon.
Colon won the Na Hoku Hanohano Award for Favorite Entertainer of the Year by public vote in 2001, the same year the group disbanded.
Shimabukuro recalls hearing Cruz singing in local nightclubs with his brother, John. “The first time I heard him sing, my jaw hit the floor,” he said.
“He had the golden voice,” Shimabukuro said. “Nobody sang like him.”
Guy Cruz also played regularly in local clubs and put out a solo CD – “Judgment Time” – in 1998. It was produced by his brother John and featured guest vocals from brothers Ernie and John.
Cruz was “more than just a bandmate,” Shimabukuro said. “He was a dear friend. When it came to music, he always pushed himself and the band, and he always pushed me to be more creative and try new things.”
Desiree Cruz described her brother as very generous.
“Anytime you wanted him to play for whatever it was, he would always show up,” she said. “You could always count on him to show up. I’m happy for him that he was able to play music and to do what he really loved.”
But about a year ago, Guy could no longer sing for an extended period of time because he suffered from shortness of breath.
“It was really heartbreaking when it was your everything,” Desiree said. “You could tell it was breaking his heart.”
“He was not a James Taylor mellow singer,” she said. “He was out there to rock the house. I just knew that for him to not be able to sing for yourself, for your own soul or relaxation was breaking his heart.”
Four months ago, their father, Ernie Cruz Sr., also a musician, died in Arizona.
“After our father died at the end of May, Guy’s health took a downturn,” she said. “He had been having health problems for a couple of years now.”
Ernie Cruz Jr., of Kaau Crater Boys’ fame, had been working on a project in Japan, when he returned to Hawaii to visit his brother in hospice on Monday.
On Tuesday, the oldest of the 12 Cruz siblings sent out a text indicating no more visitors for Guy.
“What she said was, ‘It’s time to circle the wagons,’” Desiree Cruz said. “Two seconds later, we had the text that Ernie had passed.”
Ernie Cruz Jr. had just returned to Oahu and had gone to Sandy Beach, where he loved to bodysurf and enjoy the company of friends.
He was found unconscious and pulled from waters off Sandy Beach, and was taken to the hospital, where he died. The medical examiner’s office has deferred the cause of death, which can take up to 12 weeks.
Members of the Cruz family, some of whom live on Hawaii island, were on Oahu Friday to meet with the man who pulled Ernie Jr. from the water, Desiree Cruz said.
“Just a little while later we got the news” about Guy, Desiree Cruz said.
Born Aug. 22, 1967, Guy Cruz grew up in Palolo in a musical family.
Before his musical career, he joined the Army and served in South Korea and Germany, his family said.
He married Jon Lawrence last year and was living in Puna.
He is also survived by mother Doreen “Puna” Suganuma, brothers David, John and Anthony; sisters Ernelle “Doodie” Downs, Desiree and Sarah Cruz, Stephanie Tyrin, Marissa Meredith, Tiffany Garza and Connie Rincon.
Star-Advertiser reporter John Berger contributed to this report.
