Edward G. Sierra; Retired Restaurateur

Edward G. Sierra, who started Sierra’s restaurant in San Fernando in 1933, has died at a Sepulveda convalescent hospital. He was 94.

A longtime San Fernando resident, Sierra died Sunday of heart failure, said his son, Jim Sierra.

Born March 12, 1896, in Santander, Spain, Sierra was a teen-ager when he came to the United States. He worked on the California Aqueduct and helped to restore the chapel at the San Fernando Mission. During the 1918-1919 flu epidemic, Sierra operated the 23-room Hotel Alta on Main Street in Los Angeles and treated many of his sick guests with a home remedy of tea, honey, rum and garlic.

From 1922 to 1933, he operated Sierra’s Poolroom in San Fernando. When Prohibition was lifted in 1933, he opened Sierra’s restaurant in San Fernando. He operated the Mexican food establishment until 1965 when he sold it to his son-in-law, Gil Jaramillo, who later opened a second restaurant in Canoga Park. Sierra was also a longtime member of the Elks Lodge No. 1539 in San Fernando.

He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Arsenia Sierra of San Fernando; sons Jim Sierra of Northridge, John Sierra of Granada Hills and Edward A. Sierra of Canoga Park; brother Julio Sierra of Bilbao, Spain; sisters Dorina Sierra de Rioz of Buenos Aires, Mercedes Sierra and Hortensia Sierra de La Hoz, both of Santander, Spain; 11 grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren.

A rosary is planned at 7:30 p.m. Friday at St. Ferdinand Catholic Church, 1109 Coronel St., San Fernando.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Saturday at the church, with burial to follow at San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills. Bastian & Perrott Mortuary in Northridge is handling the arrangements. Donations can be made in Sierra’s name to the Muscular Dystrophy Assn.