Born in Spalding, Idaho, Disney graduated from high school in Lapwai before moving to Lewiston to attend college.

She left Idaho in 1923 to move to southern California, where she met future husband Walt while working as a secretary for his company.

Walt Disney died from lung cancer on December 15, 1966, after which Lillian remarried, to John L. Truyens (a Southern California real estate developer) from 1969 until his death in 1981.

Born Lillian Marie Bounds in Spalding, Idaho, she grew up in nearby Lapwai on the Nez Perce Indian Reservation, where her father Willard worked as a blacksmith and federal marshal.

Disney is credited with having named her husband's most famous character, Mickey Mouse, during a train trip from New York to California in 1928.

[9] At the Carolwood Pacific Railroad, Walt Disney named his 1:8-scale live steam locomotive the "Lilly Belle" in his wife's honor.

[14] In response to a controversial biography, Lillian made a rare public statement about her marriage with Walt, "We shared a wonderful, exciting life, and we loved every minute of it.