Carlos Sendejas Lopez Jr.

Carlos Sendejas Lopez Jr. passed away of PTSD on June 24, 2018 in his apartment located in downtown Los Angeles.  Carlos Lopez Jr. who attended Nordstrom Elementary School in Morgan Hill and later a Laguna Creek High School graduate in Elk Grove CA, joined the U.S. Army and served in Iraq and Afghanistan Wars.

He is survived by his loving parents Carlos and Juanita Lopez and his sisters Nadia Perez (Fermine), Jennie and his brother Rocky Lopez, currently serving in the U.S. Marine Corp.  He is the grandson of Jennie Sendejas and the late Frank Sendejas.  He is an uncle to Benecio and Santino Perez of Elk Grove and Isa Lopez of Elk Grove.  He is also survived by many aunts, uncles and cousins.

Carlos Jr. who lived in Elk Grove joined the U.S. Army in 2002, 6 months before the Iraq -Operations Freedom Conflict and was one of the first soldiers to land in Iraq, which included battles in Bagdad, Najaf, and Fallujah. He later served in Kuwait as a civilian Contractor protecting our U.S. Army troops. Then Carlos Jr. was called to serve an additional tour of duty in Afghanistan.  Carlos Jr. served over 37 months in extreme combat environments.

Initially, Carlos Jr. joined the U.S. Army for 2 years, but he served nearly 5 years of active duty, and 3 tours of duty nearly all his military service in active combat zones.  His parents, Carlos and Juanita Lopez stated when returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan he was not the same person, very aggressive, yet loving to his family and spoke highly of his “Battle Buddies” in the military. Although Carlos Jr. experienced severe military combat leading to great stress from serving back to back tours in war - he was extremely proud of his military service to his country and served with great honor. 

After his return to civilian life, he attended Consumes River Community College majoring in Acting and Theater.  Carlos Jr. loved the theater as it allowed him to express his deepest thoughts, and an outlet for the combat life he endured.    

Carlos Jr. became both an Actor and Film Production Producer in Hollywood, CA.  In a short span of 6 years Carlos Jr. made his mark in Hollywood playing roles in movies and television acting in roles for America’s most Wanted, Winter Soldier, Foot Clan Solder on Teenage Ninja Turtles, I Carly, and the upcoming Bumblebee movie.  Carlos Jr. is wildly known for his role as a reality TV star in Operation Repo.  Carlos Jr. produced some short films such as Go For Hope (WWII documentary) and PTSD “An American Tragedy,” where he plays Victor Martinez, who resembles a true-life story of a veteran returning from Iraq suffering from severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  The movie written and produced by Carlos Jr. won the Best Picture Award for Moorpark Film School.  The Lopez family plans to premiere his movie at the CREST Theater Sacramento on August 18, 2018 at his Memorial Service.  Crest Theatre located at 1013 K St. Sacramento, CA (11am to 3pm)