John Stamos Writes Letter In Order To Honor His Dear Mother Loretta

Nov 18, 2020 by apost team

American actor John Stamos is known to be vocal when it comes to expressing his love and appreciation for his mother, Loretta Phillips Stamos, who passed away in September 2014 at the age of 75.

As it goes for any son who shares a close bond with his mom, John Stamos was devastated when he lost his mother. Three years after Loretta’s passing, John wrote a letter in her honor. In the letter, the now 57-year-old actor talked about how he had found a note that she left for John to find. She had penned it knowing her time would soon end. It read, “Life is an occasion. Rise to it. Don’t be sad because I died, be happy because I lived. I had a wonderful life.”

Loretta Donna Stamos (née Phillips) was born on April 8th, 1939 in Los Angeles. She was raised in England where she worked as a swimsuit model. Later on, she met the man that she would marry, John’s dad, a Greek restaurateur named Bill Stamos.

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“Your whole life was completely unselfish,” John, who was Loretta’s only son, wrote of her. “Those sparkling hazel eyes were always looking for the good in people.”

John, who is strikingly handsome, clearly inherited those “sparkling hazel eyes,” from her. When Loretta died, John commemorated her in an Instagram post with a black and white picture of the both of them when John was a baby. His caption reads: “The love of my life passed away yesterday in her home surrounded by her children and grandchildren. My mother had enough love to fuel a small country. She was truly one of a kind and will live forever in the hearts of all who knew her. A few weeks ago, I asked my mom if she remembered an inconsequential event - she simply replied, “I only remember the love." #Brokenhearted #Iloveyouthemost”

He ended the post by asking those who were interested in reaching out for support to donate to the charity that was founded by Loretta, The Vanguard Cancer Foundation.

In the Instagram photo, it is easy to see that not only did he take after his mother’s eyes, but also her voluminous hair! Thick as his hair might be, he did not inherit Loretta’s red-head hair. And he talked about in the letter penned to her, too, saying: “Maybe someday I'll have a kid or two, and maybe they'll have red hair like yours (although like you used to say, yours came from a bottle).”

John welcomed his son Billy Stamos, who is named after John’s late father, in April 2018. And though Billy also is not a ginger, he has great hair just like his dad. If the number of times Stamos has spoken about his mother on social media or on TV is any indication, she was truly the love of his life. According to AARP, while accepting a Timeless Icon Award back in 2016 for his role as Blackie Parrish on General Hospital, he cried as he paid tribute to his parents during his speech, saying: “I want to thank my parents. They taught me to be kind and to be generous and to be loving to everyone that you meet on this journey.”

In that same year, John opened up to radio host Howard Stern on his show about his time spent in rehab in 2015. When he was asked what the reason was behind his drug abuse, John said he was “hurt from losing my mom.” And this was evident, too, in John’s letter to Loretta: “And things got rougher after you passed away,” he wrote. “How could it not? You were the most important thing in my life. I allowed outside things to come in and cloud my spirit, but it was your strength that got me through it. Your voice, your beautiful face, your over-abundance of love is always running in the back of my mind and certainly in my heart.”

“I derailed over the years. I never really got back on track,” John lamented to Stern. “A piece of me just was gone … it was a big part of my purpose for many, many years to be there for her and be a good son.”

Besides the good looks, John’s character was also shaped by Loretta’s example. He continued in the letter: “Everyone who spent time with you walked away feeling better about themselves. Especially me, Alaina and Janeen. We used to joke with you about it — call you overbearing or just say, "Stop, please, Mom, c'mon!" But now I find myself doing it too — being over-complimentary, lovey, gushy, accentuating the good in people.”

What did you think of this story? Did you know about John Stamos's close relationship with his mother? Let us know in the comments and be sure to pass it along to all the John Stamos fans in your life!