Raymond Saenz Sierra 1932-2023 Beloved husband, friend, father, uncle, grandfather, great grandfather and great great grandfather, passed away suddenly on March 30, 2023.
Ray Sierra, a nearly lifelong resident of Bakersfield, California, passed away on March 30, in Meridian, Idaho. He was admired and loved by his family—especially his children, Vincent Sierra, Carlotta Sierra, Marie Sandoval, Alice DeLuna, and Charles Sierra, their spouses; many grandchildren and great grandchildren; along with many members of the Native American community in Kern County.
Ray attended Bakersfield High School—then known as Kern County Union High School. He was an active member of the school’s ROTC program, spending weekend time on maneuvers at Camp San Louis Obispo. Years later, he attended Bakersfield Community College for a couple semesters, taking computer classes.
As a high school student he worked at his dad’s gas station. After leaving school in 1951, he took his first commercial job at Morris Motors in Bakersfield, and he married his high school sweetheart, Mary Riley. They enjoyed square dancing together and were members of a local square dance club, in which he was the president at one time. During the years they were together, Ray was also a deacon at the local Lutheran church.
He liked to reminisce about his times backpacking in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California with his oldest son, highlighted by a trip to the summit of Mt. Whitney. After working at Morris Motors for many years, Ray went to work at Lutterell Auto Parts in Lamont, California, and later found his “career” working at Kern Oil and Refining, where he was for over twenty years, retiring as a lab technician in 1991. In the 1970s he married his current wife, Lis Sierra—they were married for forty-seven years.
After a life-threatening bout with lung cancer in 1991, Ray earned his high school diploma; retired from his position at Kern Oil and—encouraged by his wife, Lis, began to explore his Native American heritage, where he met and became friends with so very many new extended “family members.” He had a charismatic effect on people, who perceived at him as a mentor, friend, a kind soul, a father figure; he was a well respected and well loved man, with always a kind word for everyone. Ray will be greatly missed and long remembered by all who knew him.
Ray leaves behind his wife, Lis, a sister, Mary Ellen Gokhale and her husband, Anand; all his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren; and his family of friends and “relations.” He will be long remembered and greatly missed.
Never stop moving or you will 💃🏼