Merced Sun-Star
From Brazilian guitar ballads to traditional Chinese songs to operas about Malcolm X, Federico Rojas' compact disc collection could satisfy any musical palette.
"He loved everything," said Mary Rojas of her late husband, a former Merced obstetrician who died in June 2007 at the age of 64. "He would listen to Willie Nelson, then he'd put in Pavarotti."
Mary Rojas recently donated his entire collection -- about 8,700 CDs -- to the Merced College Library. There, she said, students and faculty will be able to enjoy his eclectic taste in music.
"I couldn't leave it here collecting dust," Mary Rojas said, standing in her large living room. She said the entire wall was once lined with CD racks that held the collection.
Born and raised in Peru, Federico came to America to become a doctor. He met Mary, then a nurse, while working as an intern in a Detroit hospital. After one very cold and wet winter, the couple decided to move to Merced. "We never regretted it, we had a great life here," she recalled.
Federico operated a private medical practice in Merced for decades, delivering almost 8,000 babies. "It was a happy job, that's why he loved it," Mary said.
Out of the office, Federico was a technology junkie. His son Peter, 33, claims his dad owned one of the first CD players ever sold in America -- a Sony CDP-101. He was also an avid photographer, taking pictures on every Rojas family vacation and the couple's recent travels abroad.
But that doesn't mean he forgot about his CD collection at home in Merced while visiting other parts of the world. "Everywhere we went, he brought home music," Mary Rojas said.
Organized by genre, his well-ordered collection had sections for soundtracks, musicals, swing, opera, country western and others.
He kept several diagrams of the cases and racks that held his CDs, which show he also had music categorized by country, including CDs from Greece, China, Argentina and his native Peru.
"It's a fabulous collection," said Susan Walsh, director of the Merced College Library. "You name it, he probably had it." Walsh said it had taken her and the rest of the library crew three days to box up and remove the CDs from the Rojas home.
It will take awhile for the library staff to tidy up the CDs, catalog them and prepare them for checkout, but she plans to have all of them available to students and staff for checkout soon. Walsh said she also plans to find a way for community members to listen to the music while visiting the library.
This, Mary said, is exactly what her husband would have wanted to happen to his treasure trove of sound. "I know the kids over there will love it," she said.
But don't worry about Mary -- she won't be missing her favorite tracks from his collection. "I have his iPod," she laughed. "That has thousands of songs on it."
Reporter Abby Souza can be reached at (209) 385-2407 or asouza@mercedsun-star.com.
