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SEQUIM — Jay Sierra, the Sequim-based, Los Angeles-born comedian and actor known for his family-inspired routines and portrayals of the Cowardly Lion and other roles in local musicals, died a few minutes before midnight Monday.
He was 37.
Sierra suffered from pancreatitis, and last year spent nine months battling the illness at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
Then, in January, he returned to his adopted home town of Sequim, where he was determined to recover and to perform again.
But “about two weeks ago, he started to decline, and he went back over to Harborview,” said his close friend, Laura O’Neal of Port Angeles.
Sierra was to have surgery to remove his diseased pancreas, and to repair a stomach blockage that made it impossible for him to eat much of anything other than Popsicles, O’Neal said.
Weakened by a compromised immune system, he spent a few months at Sequim Health & Rehabilitation, where he visited daily with his children Matthew, 11, Aiden, 9, and Jaylynn, 7.
His eldest, Tailler, 16, lives in Idaho, “but he’s still in our hearts,” Sierra said in a January interview.
Sequim singer and actress Amanda Bacon, another longtime friend, said today that she admired Sierra’s unflagging devotion to his family — who provided much of the material for his standup comedy.
“He was very funny, and very loving, and always very concerned about his friends,” Bacon added.
A memorial service is set for 11 a.m. Saturday at the Sequim ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 815 W. Washington St.
In addition, O’Neal and Sierra’s wife, Shonda, are planning a gathering of friends and family from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at The Buzz, 128 N. Sequim Ave.
O’Neal said a memorial service will be held later in Los Angeles, where Sierra grew up, though details aren’t yet available.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
