Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Star Lisa Rinna Announces Her Father Has Died: "Heaven Got a Great Angel"

Actress' father had been in poor health for several years

By Zach Johnson Jan 22, 2016 1:30 PMTags
Lisa Rinna, RHOBHMichael Larsen/Bravo

Lisa Rinna is in mourning.

The star of Bravo's The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills announced via her Instagram and Twitter accounts Thursday that her father, Frank Rinna, has died in his early 90s. Sharing a picture of her parents, the Melrose Place star informed her followers, "The World lost a Great Man today......Heaven got a great Angel. I love you Dad." Lisa took a photo of "one of my Dads beautiful Paintings," in addition to a picture from her wedding day, and shared it with her fans.

Lisa thanked people for support via Twitter, writing, "Thank you for all of your kind messages. My family and I so appreciate all of the love. Dad passed singing 'My Way' Sinatra was his fav."

As viewers of her show well know, Lisa's father had been suffering from poor health for a while. Frank was treated for pneumonia in a local hospital last April, his fourth time doing so that year.

In a 2014 episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Lisa visited her childhood home in Medford, Ore. "I have a lot of guilt being so far away. It's really, really hard," she said, adding that her dad "fought through" his health issues "because I don't think he can leave [my mom]." As she prepared to sell her family's house, Lisa said it wasn't easy "letting go of your childhood."

The actress, who has two daughters with husband Harry Hamlin, continued, "What I'm realizing now is that I'm the adult. I'm taking care of my parents. You never prepare for that." In the same episode, Frank also praised his wife, Lois Rinna, who'd recently suffered a stroke. "She's my rock," he said. Lisa shared his sentiments, saying, "My mom is the Rock of Gibraltar. She always had everything together. It's hard not having your parents be young and not full of life."

Lisa opened up about her family once again in a December 2015 episode. Reflecting upon it later in a Bravo blog post, she asked fans to keep her father in mind as he reached the end of his life. "It's so hard living as far from my aging parents as I do. As blessed as I feel to still have both of my parents here on this earth with me, it's hard to know that my dad just doesn't want to be here anymore. I thank God every day, though, that my family, particularly my mother, has such a good sense of humor about life. Laughter has helped us get through some pretty tough times together and for that I am grateful," she wrote. "I love my parents dearly, though I think my dad's days are numbered. It's just a matter of time now. Please say prayers for him to go peacefully."

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