Tribute to Seferino Gonzales

1927 - 2012

I would like to dedicate this page to pay tribute to the career of Nino Gonzales. Nino was one of the prominent members of the Austin Watchmakers' Guild. He quietly organized activities and did what needed to be done, without having to be told to do it, especially when the Austin Guild hosted the Texas Watchmakers' Association Convention in Austin and when instructors from the American Watchmakers' Institute came to Austin to teach watch and clock repair courses. Roy Hovey was one of these instructors.
Nino was born in Weslaco, Texas, in 1927. At age 18 he joined the Air Force, which he served until 1973, having been to Korea, Lebanon, Vietnam, Germany, Greenland, Japan, and other places.
Nino was in Germany in 1965, when he became interested in clock repair and apprenticed under an old German clockmaker. Clocks were a hobby at this point.
In 1978, Nino earned a Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Arts from Southwest University in San Marcos, Texas. He joined the Austin Watchmakers' Guild in 1980 and set up a clock repair shop in his home. He got all the help he needed from Cecil Mulholland. He became a Certified Clockmaker in 1984 and a Certified Master Clockmaker in 1988, training under Mr. M.C. Hall.
In 1984, Nino had a building constructed on his property for his clock shop, the Kuckucksuhrschloss, since his specialty was cuckoo clocks.
Nino trained me for the Certified Clockmakers' exam in 1992 and continued to give me advice since.