Romeo Lopez

Romeo Maranan Lopez was born on October 3, 1937 in Manila, Philippines and passed away on January 21, 2025 in Panorama City, California. He was the eldest child out of four boys born to Mariano and Luz Lopez. He grew up in a multi-generational household, which included grandparents, aunts, and uncles, so the days were filled with happy memories. There was never a dull moment in the Lopez household when you’re surrounded by such a huge extended family.

Commonly known as Romy, he shared his love of music with his father and developed an appreciation for big band music. Similar to his father, he learned to play multiple instruments, which included the saxophone, clarinet, flute, trumpet, and violin. Romy attended the University of Santo Tomas and even played for the school marching band. While attending university, he realized that he wanted to pursue art and dropped out of school. He self-studied to master the art of drawing and also worked as a comic book artist to support himself.

In 1968 he immigrated to San Francisco, California with his two brothers Roger and Mario, to join his father and his Uncle Lito. Shortly thereafter, they moved to Los Angeles. He worked at various jobs from working at a resort restaurant serving celebrities like Frank Sinatra and Red Skelton to working on touching up paintings for mass distribution. 

In 1970, at the age of 32, Romy returned to the Philippines to marry his long-time love, Esther. At almost 10 years her senior, he had lied about his age during their courtship, and with his baby face, her parents were easily fooled and even thought he was younger than he claimed. Shortly after, they returned to the U.S. and settled in Los Angeles, where they had three children: Alfred, Enrico (Rico), and Jennifer. Romy worked at several hotels in Hollywood to support the family, while free-lancing his drawings on the side. His medium was charcoal pencil; where he loved to draw celebrities of his time, such as John Wayne, Elvis, Elizabeth Taylor, and Marilyn Monroe. He presented his artwork at various art shows and received several awards and accolades for his work.

In the 1980’s he worked at DC comics, which opened the doors to working for animation studios. Through his retirement in 2000, he was an animator working on cartoons, including He-Man, X-Men, Shazam, and Spiderman. He was also a member of a big band orchestra, which enabled him to continue his passion for music.

Romy was a very kind, generous, and loving person, who loved to make people laugh with his anecdotes. He was always up for a good party and loved being around friends and family. He was a devoted and supportive husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, and grand uncle. He had a long and fulfilling life and he was a fighter till the end. 

Romy is survived by his wife Esther, his three children (Alfred, Rico, and Jennifer) and two grandsons (Chance and Maverick).