Murdered Singer, Selena, was Raised a JW?

Did you know that Selena Quintanilla was raised in a devout Jehovah’s Witness family? Or that the Mexican-American singer who was murdered by the founder of her fan club on March 31, 1995, would have turned 44 on April 16th?

Tens of thousands of her adoring fans are expected to gather in the late singer’s hometown, Corpus Christi, Texas where a special two-day tribute will be held on April 17 and 18, 2015. Many other events have already started in honor of the singer.

In an article published on NBCNews.com, Selena’s father expressed mixed feelings about the remembrances and celebrations:

“As Jehovah’s Witnesses, we don’t celebrate deaths or birthdays, and we don’t want people to think we’re behind all the festivities,” said Abraham Quintanilla to the Associated Press. He said his family has never gotten together and celebrated on the day of the murder of his daughter because there is nothing to celebrate, and they remember her every day.
But the family says they are happy to see her fame endures, which is no surprise to those who have chronicled the late singer’s popularity.

One Selena fan said, “She is someone who deserves to be remembered, because she was a great role model.” Many feel the same way as they have created fan websites and social media accounts devoted to Selena, a woman raised by her Jehovah’s Witness father in a religion whose members are supposed to be “no part of this world.”

TV Documentary about Selena and her death…

gma-tired2

i knew just read a letter a JW 1 wrote telling JW2 that Salena parents were at the home of JW1 when they received news of their daughter death. The letter was found among JW2 pictures and papers after her death.

ShirleyW

Yeah, I remember that making the rounds that her family were JWs. She even makes the lists of celebrities who are JWs all the time

Tenacious

Yeah, I remember comments in the hall about her being a JW or her family being 'in'.

What immediately came to my mind was 'how in the heck can they even consider themselves or even be mentioned in the same breath as being witnesses with the incredibly rigid rules.'

What Now?

In the movie that was done a few years ago, there is a scene of her parents in their bedroom, and you can see the 'Live Forever' book on their night stand.

Vidiot

Was that the Jennifer Lopez movie, where James Edward Olmos played her dad?

neverendingjourney

I was a Mexican-American teenager in Texas when Tejano music was at its peak. Selena was the unquestionable star of the genre. For people in my demographic, her death had the impact I imagine John Lennon's death had on the wider population. It was a real punch in the gut.

It came out early on in her career that her family were JWs. They grew up in Corpus Christ, which was a few hours away from my hometown. There were people in my hall who knew people in Selena's hometown who confirmed the rumors. The family was said to have been "inactive" although they were often seen at assemblies.

After Selena died, her father gave many interviews and he mentioned their JW beliefs in several of them. Her brother formed his own band (which is still in existence). His arms are completely covered in tattoos, so I very much doubt he considers himself a Witness.

Oogie

we don’t celebrate deaths

Um...then what is Jesus' memorial?

CalebInFloroda

This I knew already because I grew up in Corpus Christi and was friends of the extended family.

I knew her cousins and uncles and aunts better than I knew her and her father Abraham's family. Selena was not very involved in the religion like her cousins who were doing things like pioneering while Selena was pursuing her career. I was among the crowd of young 20-something pioneers at that time,

She comes from very talented stock. One of her female cousins sings even better than her and used to perform with other JW youth for audiences of Witnesses. Her cousins played piano or were otherwise musically inclines and would put on little shows whenever they held piano recitals for students they taught (many of which were Witnesses). Selena, however, was mostly absent from these type of events. The family was not really inactive as they were sporadic, and this was mostly due to the fact that her singing kept her on the road. But this got interpreted as being "inactive” by many of us who were taught to be very judgmental of those who weren’t as involved in field service like the rest.

When the tragedy of her death struck it was very odd because none of us realized exactly how famous she really and truly was. Corpus Christi, Texas is not a very famous spot on the map but it was changed overnight with that one event almost. We knew she was famous, especially in the Latin American culture around the world, but when she died and famous people like Madonna were sending flowers to her memorial--well, then we not

Even more sad is that she was planning on starting a family and getting more involved in "the truth" before the shooting happened. She had yet to be baptized as a Witness but believed in the teachings (if not mistaken). Heck, she didn’t even graduate from high school (but did eventually earn a GED). She was famous so young and taken so soon by a person I am still not clear on why they allowed to get so close to them without checking on her background better.

I left the Witnesses in the summer of 1999.

Did you know that murdered singer (1995), Selena, was raised a JW? April 16th is her birthday. Read more...

AndersonsInfo