Roberto Mondragon looks through a book “Lives of Saints” before recording his obituary radio program Tuesday October 21, 2014. Mondragon works out of his home in Cuyamungue. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)

 

By Andy Stiny / Journal Staff Writer   
www.abqjournal.com
Friday, October 31st, 2014 at 12:05am

He has done political talk shows and music shows but now, at 74, veteran radio host, singer-songwriter and ex-politician Roberto Mondragón delivers the news of the newly departed to the living.
Six days a week, he researches, produces and announces radio obituaries aired on two northern New Mexico radio stations with a authoritative, yet gentle, voice honed by years of experience. 

Mondragón checks the websites of his employer, Rivera Family Funerals and Cremations – operators of funeral homes in Taos, Española and Santa Fe – and emails them for updates and any changes in plans for funeral services before writing his script.

He records the roughly 10-minute program in Spanish and English for broadcast on KDCE (Que Dice) radio in Española and KSWV (Que Suave) in Santa Fe. It airs six days a week on both stations at about 8:05 a.m. on Que Dice and about 9:20 a.m. on Que Suave. Rivera produces its own shows for broadcast in Taos.

 

“I get a lot of personal satisfaction by doing this because of the fact that people recognize my voice and, when I go any place, it’s interesting there are so many people that listen to the program,” said Mondragón.