Mariel de Leon remembers late 'Oma' Lilia Dizon: 'She lived such an exciting life'

Mariel de Leon paid tribute to her late grandmother, the veteran actress Lilia Dizon, whom she calls "Oma." 

Posting a series of photos of Lilia on Instagram, Mariel said "she lived such an exciting life. As a young girl, she experienced the effects of WW2 in the Philippines." 

"She then blossomed into a beautiful woman and into the glamorous screen goddess - Lilia Dizon. I am so proud to call her my Oma (grandmother in German)," she continued.

Mariel recalled her Oma telling her about her life as an actress. "The hard work, the glamour, and everything in between (she even met Marlon Brando and Lucille Ball)," the former beauty queen continued.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Oma. My beautiful Oma. ? ? She lived such an exciting life. As a young girl, she experienced the effects of WW2 in the Philippines. She would tell me so much stories about all the things she went through during that time. She then blossomed into a beautiful woman and into the glamorous screen goddess - Lilia Dizon. I am so proud to call her my Oma (grandmother in German).? ? I know that I got my love for anything elegant, glamorous, and beautiful from her. She would tell me about her life as an actress during her time. The hard work, the glamour, and everything in between (she even met Marlon Brando and Lucille Ball). I also remember when she used to live in our house, even when she was just staying home, she would always want to look and smell nice. But besides her beauty, her strength is what I admire the most about her. She didn’t let the hardships of life bring her down in anyway; Instead she would rise up and build an even more beautiful life for herself and her loved ones. ? ? She truly is the epitome of elegance, grace, and strength. ? ? Oma, I’m sorry I couldn’t physically be there with you. ? ? I know that heaven is more beautiful now that they have you. ? ? I miss you. I love you so much. ????

A post shared by ???????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????? (@mariadeleonofficial) on

Jun 14, 2020 at 9:52pm PDT

Mariel believes she got her love for anything elegant, glamorous and beautiful from her grandma and calls her the "epitome of elegance, grace, and strength."

She ended her note with a short message for her grandmother.

"Oma, I’m sorry I couldn’t physically be there with you. I know that heaven is more beautiful now that they have you. I miss you. I love you so much."  

Lilia passed away at 92 years old. Her daughter Toni Abad confirmed the unfortunate news on her Facebook page on Monday morning.

Lilia starred in several films since the 1950's. She was the wife of LVN Pictures actor Gil de Leon, with whom she has three children Pinky de Leon, Christopher de Leon and Melissa de Leon.

She has two daughters with her second husband Antonio Abad Toni and Corrie Abad. — Jannielyn Ann Bigtas/LA, GMA News