Paulino Bernal photographed on Nov. 21, 2002. (Larry Clubb | The Monitor)
Rio Grande Valley music legend Paulino Bernal has died after a brief battle with cancer. He was 83 years old.
Bernal died at 7:22 p.m. Saturday while surrounded by his wife and children at DHR Health in Edinburg.
“He was surrounded by all of his family. I think you couldn’t have squeezed one more person in that room,” said Yesenia Bernal Saravia, the youngest of Bernal’s six children.
“He took his last breath as we were worshiping and singing all around him. … One of the last songs that we sang together was Cuán Grande Es Él, (How Great Thou Art),” Bernal Saravia said.
The prolific accordionist, music producer, radio personality and pastor succumbed to advanced lung cancer which was diagnosed at a late stage, causing Bernal to deteriorate within a few months of its discovery, his daughter…
