Obituary of Lewis Siewert

Lewis Albert Siewert was born March 17, 1923 in Long Beach, California to Ruben and Violet Siewert. He grew up in Wilmington until he was nine years old. They then moved to Canoga Park and became a part of the Winnetka community. Lewis' father was a sign and house painter and his mother had an egg farm. His grandfather, Oliver, also lived with them. Lewis grew up in the country and learned how to make things, take apart things and blow- up things. He always said that he learned to read by reading the comics and Popular Mechanics. Lewis read anything he could find and most of his education was self-learned. When he was nine he got Rheumatic Fever and studied at home until he was well enough to go to school. After that he always had a heart murmur and was told he wouldn't live to old age. When he was in High School, he built a boat and trailer to take it to water. the trailer also converted to one that could haul things; it is still used today. Because of his heart murmur he couldn't serve in WWII, but he participated by being a part of the Signal Corps at Two Rock Ranch in Sonoma County. After that, he bought a store- front on Sherman Way with his father where he operated a " fixit" shop. Later, he went to work at Hoffman Electronics as an electrical engineer. While working at Hoffman, he met a lovely Armenian nurse named Mary and they married in 1959. He bought his first apartment building in Hollywood that year and they moved into the two bedroom unit. He had his first child, George in 1960 and then Marylew in 1961. He later designed and built another apartment building in Canoga Park in 1964. The family moved to a house in Hollywood in 1971 and later moved to Woodland Hills in 1979 where they have lived since then. Lewis is survived by his two children, George and Marylew, and 4 grandchildren, Charis, Kristin, Forest and Jack.