Flight Attendant – Age 27
Kelsterback, Germany – U.S. Citizen
Her friends knew her as Lili. Born in the Philippines and fluent in Tagalog, she moved as a young girl to San Pedro, California with her family. Lili enchanted passengers with her thoughtful care and attention to their needs. A passenger wrote, “If one of your goals is striving for excellence among your employees, you’ve accomplished that goal in Lili. It’s because of her that I will fly Pan Am in the future.” Lili was the “sweetheart” of the London base and possessed an immediate likability to all those who met her. She was easy-going, warm and considerate, and had the most endearing smile. She truly enjoyed the camaraderie of her flying partners and always had a happy, positive, and cheerful attitude, which made her fun to fly with.
Lili began her flying career with Pan Am in 1985 and was based in New York before joining the London base in 1986. Prior to flying, she worked as a make-up consultant and as an aerobics instructor. She was engaged to Tony Andre-Janscz, an Australian, who worked for Pan Am Flight Operations in Frankfurt from where Lili commuted. She is survived by her parents, Winceslad and Natividad Macalolooy; four sisters, Consuelo, Christina, Juana, and Florentina; and six brothers, Alfredo, Larito, Rudrigo, Maximo, Tduticio, and Jesus.
Lili seen here in this high school photo radiating the same warm smile that endeared both passengers and crew.
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Photo courtesy of Alex Wissmann
Flight Attendants Alex Custodia and Pat McRae with Lili, on the far right, enjoying a little “fun” time during a delay.
Lili’s good friend and colleague, Alex Wissmann pays tribute to Lili’s final resting place at Forest Lawn Memorial Park.
Lilibeth’s final resting place is in the Garden of Protection at Forest Lawn’s beautiful memorial park in Cypress, California (20 miles south of Los Angeles near Anaheim.) Her grave is adjacent to “For Such is the Kingdom of Heaven,” an original marble statue created by Vincenzo Jerace.
Dec 24, 1988
Dec 26, 1988
Remembrances
Romlee Stoughton: Lili temporarily moved in with me when we were based in London; however, my landlord didn’t know that I now had an “extra” roommate who he would charge. He was an Indian sikh and quite a stern and intimidating guy.
I had found a new flat right behind this one where I was living and was moving into it in the next couple of days but didn’t want my landlord to know (Long story that I really don’t remember.) My landlord called one day and said he was on his way over for some reason. I told Lili that we gotta get her and her stuff outta here pronto and into the new flat just behind us.
She jumped up and started grabbing all her clothes as I helped her. She had such a cute, innocent way about her. In our hurried frenzy and surprise, I remember us both laughing hysterically while she was running in circles piling everything in her arms almost above her head. She was rather short.
Before I could even suggest she put the stuff in a damn suitcase, Lili ran out the door as I followed behind. As she was running and laughing pieces of clothing were falling out of her arms and onto the sidewalk. I would turn around and quickly pick up a bra or a piece of underwear and then I would drop something. After two quick crazy rounds, we got everything just in time. Lili and I would always remember that time and burst out laughing all over again.
Lili was indeed very, very sweet and kind. She had a modest charm about her and she was always happy. She was often mistaken for being Hawaiian and was familiar with Hawaiian culture. She once did a beautiful Hawaiian dance in the middle of the living room with such precision. Her long, flowing, shiny, black hair and a smile that could melt your heart; she was everybody’s sweetheart at the base.
We knew where most of the crew liked to work so naturally we did speculate where they were and what they were doing at that moment. Lilly was working in the back on flight 103.
I never shared this before but I escorted her fiancée Tony, who was also a friend, to San Francisco to visit Lili’s family. Obviously he was very distraught and actually in a zombie like state. During the fist half of the long flight from London he would constantly get out of his first class seat and walk through the cabin trying to determine where she was and asking me questions about this sort of thing. It was challenging to remain discreet being earshot distance from the passengers as he could easily be heard.
Understandably he wanted to talk to the crew, who all knew Lili, but it became distracting to the service and was somewhat awkward at times. I was seated next to him in seat 1B and finally got him to relax and stay seated and talk to me. After a short while he was depleted of mental energy and just slept for the remainder of the trip.
Tony carried a little pink carnation from Pan Am’s First Class table setting that he found at the crash site in Lockerbie. It was in pristine condition even after more than a week! He said he was walking around the perimeter area and he looked down and there it was lying on the ground with nothing else around it and he knew it was from Lili.
I knew Lili at flight attendant training for United Airlines. She for some reason didn’t pass training there and obviously went on to pan am. She was a lovely soul, and taught us aerobics during training. I often think that if United had passed her in training she would be alive today. She obviously was a perfect employee, friend and daughter. Flight attendant training at United in 1984 and 1985 was archaic and my best friend almost didn’t pass because she didn’t know the right condiments for cocktails. So you can see, life can be very unfair. Love to all of Lili’s loved ones.
I knew Tony and Lilli. I worked the ticket counter the day of that terrible day. As usual the flight from Frankfurt to London was delayed and overbooked. Everyone wanted to get home for Christmas. I had a passenger with his little son mad that he might miss the flight, he did not and I never forgot their faces. I was 5 month pregnant on her way to flight operations Lilli gave me a big hug and told me to watch out for my baby. She waved going down the corridor. That was the last time I saw her beautiful smile. I hope Tony found Peace we lost touch. They were a beautiful couple. Can’t believe it has been 34 years.
I was Lilibeth’s classmate in training. We sat next to each other alphabetically by last name (mine was Martin then). Lilibeth radiated warmth and kindness. She was on the quiet side but full of life and adventurous, a lovely and rare combination. Her smile was simply radiant. Today, I am visiting my daughter’s school in LA, to talk about Flight 103 because they are featuring the play “The Women of Lockerbie” and have asked me to share my memories. It feels a sacred duty to serve as a custodian of the memories of Lilibeth and all the other souls lost that day and to pass on these stories to a new generation. Lilibeth, I will do my best to make you proud and will tell all of your indomitable sense of adventure, optimism, kindness and caring heart. RIP, sweet Lilibeth, I will never forget.
Never a year goes by that I don’t think of Lili at this time and throughout the year as well. She was such a pure joy to be around. I still have the postcard she sent to me from Australia when she was there on vacation. We started with Pan Am at the same time. She was a friend that took a piece of my heart with her on that day. I love and miss you my friend.
I knew and remember Lili well. We both were in the same class of 1985 with Pan Am. We started in New York. She went to London in 1986. She was a person of strong faith a strong Christian. I know that today she walks with Jesus in Heaven.
I still fly the skies with Delta Air Lines since they bought the European routes from Pan Am.
God Bless you Lili. If you can hear he pray for me.
I married in 2001 my wife’s name is Kate and I have two daughters Eva and Anya
God bless you Lili