Ernest was a naval reservist who contracted his life-ending flu while serving in the army.

Ernest Joseph Soria was born in Santa Cruz on March 7, 1892, to Petronillo and Anna Soria, a family descended from early Californio settlers. Also included in the family were their children, Edward, Carl, Harry, Ada, Richard, William, Frederick and Teresa. After completing his education, Ernest became an apprentice plumber.

The name Ernest Soria appears in a Santa Cruz Sentinel article of March 29, 1917, along with other members of the local detachment of naval reservists awaiting muster into federal service. When that unit was called into active duty in April 1917, its members reported to the USS Oregon stationed in San Francisco for duty. On September 25, 1917, Ernest Soria was given a medical discharge from the navy and returned to his family home in Santa Cruz.

In September 1918 he registered for the draft and was found fit to serve. His induction records picture him as being tall in height, of slender build with brown hair and gray eyes. During that month, he was inducted into the army and sent to Camp Lewis, Washington.

After completing less than a month of training, Private Ernest J. Soria contracted influenza and died at the camp's medical facility on October 19, 1918. Soria's mother, Anna, had his remains returned to Santa Cruz where they were interred in Santa Cruz Memorial Park.

(USCR, 1910 US Census, CA, Santa Cruz; WWIDR; WEP September 5, 1918; SCSf, October 19, 1918 4:3, December 30, 1918)