Santa Rosa taqueria owner Eduardo Lepe dies of COVID-19 complications

Eduardo “Eddie” Lepe, beloved owner of Lepe's Taqueria in Santa Rosa, died Sunday at UCSF Hospital due to complications from the coronavirus. He was 51.

The Santa Rosa native had been in a medically-induced coma since early July, according to family members who were unable to be with him when he died due to public health protocols. The family declined to discuss Lepe’s vaccination status or health issues.

His many friends and family members remember him as a coach, mentor, jokester and father who loved being around people and providing a gathering place for his friends and large family.

“He just loved talking and being with people. Any baby who would come in, he would want to hold. He just lit up the room every time he walked in,” Marco Lepe said of the Bennett Valley taqueria his brother operated for 26 years.

The youngest of five children, Lepe was a passionate sports lover who played soccer at El Molino High School. He coached Santa Rosa youth basketball, Rincon Valley little league baseball teams and his son Mateo’s traveling baseball and fall ball teams.

“I've never met someone with such a passion and dedication to make kids great ballplayers and give great life lessons about teamwork,” said Nick Denicke, who coached with Lepe. Frequently Lepe would purchase equipment for the team and for players who could not afford shoes and uniforms.

“Shoes would just magically appear,” Denicke said.

He recalled a time when Lepe paid for an older couple's restaurant tab on his way back from a catering event in the Bay Area when he overheard that they made a treat out of visiting a local restaurant each month with their Social Security check. Denicke also said that Lepe frequently fed emergency first responders and those in need.

During the 2017 wildfires, Lepe drove through flames into Santa Rosa’s Fountaingrove neighborhood where a friend’s grandmother was trapped. Pounding on the doors until she answered, he drove her to safety, Denicke said. The story was retold by several of his friends.

“There are a million stories like that about Eddie. There was such generosity with his time and everything he had,” Denicke said. “It always was for other people. He was the most unselfish, noble man I ever met.

“Everyone knew Eddie. He was the unofficial mayor of Santa Rosa.”

Another fellow coach, Brad Cannon, said that Lepe was a person who befriended people, regardless of social or financial status.

“He had friends in all walks of life, and he would give you the shirt off his back,” Cannon said.

Never one to get wrapped up in wealth, he said that Lepe simply looked at people and saw their goodness.

From his golfing friends at the Fountaingrove Club to the dishwashers at his restaurant, Cannon said he saw what people had to give and what they were, and was friendly with everyone. A tribute to Lepe is being planned by the Rincon Valley little league to honor his contribution to the program, Cannon said.

“His love for youth sports was incredible. I don't know how many burritos his restaurant donated, but it was a lot,” he said.

Daughter Bella Lepe said her father coached many of her brother Mateo’s traveling sports teams. Now a senior at Maria Carrilo High School, she said her brother looked forward to having his dad attend his football games this year.

She also said her dad loved to treat himself to a pedicure every other week, facials and massages. He also enjoyed eating ice cream at his best friend Salvador Cruz’s ice cream shop, Fru-ta.

Childhood friend Ylisa Sanford said she had known Lepe since junior high school, playing sports together and raising similarly-aged children. When he opened his first taqueria in Fairfield, she would visit him from UC Davis where she was going to school.

“He was one of those very magnetic people whose personality was bigger than life. He had an amazingly engaging quality that made people feel like they were his best friends,” said Sanford, who noted Lepe also had a mischievous streak and loved to play practical jokes.

Having experienced some health problems in the past, she said that he told friends to be happy and remember that life was short.

“He was always saying we shouldn't work too hard. For him, that meant going to see live music and he spent some of his days with the love of his life, Debbie, going to live shows,” Sanford said.

Lepe found his true love, Debbie Spreng, later in life, his family members said.

“Debbie was the love of his life and he was so happy the last few years,” his brother Marco Lepe said. During the pandemic, the two designed a bar and outdoor patio they were both proud of.

Denicke said that she put her heart and soul into the restaurant, while they were together and the two glowed around each other.

“She deserves so much credit and she was so dedicated to Eddie and the restaurant,” he said.

Bella set up a private Facebook group in July to update friends and family about her father’s health condition. The group has nearly 600 members and received hundreds of condolences and remembrances after Lepe’s death.

“He was a big kid, and everything was just so fun with Eddie. Santa Rosa has lost a crown jewel,” Denicke said.

In addition to Lepe’s daughter Bella and sons Mateo and Diego, who will take over the restaurant, and his partner Debbie, he is survived by the mother of his children, Lori Lepe; his parents Hilda and Manuel; and many nieces and nephews.

You can reach Dining Editor Heather Irwin at heather.irwin@pressdemocrat.com.