Lila Quartermaine came to Port Charles with the rest of her family in 1978 when Alan decided to stay at General Hospital and bought a house in town. The family matriarch, Lila is adored by pretty much anyone she encounters and even those that have left the family by choice still make an effort to come see her.

In 1981, Lila was visited by her no-good first husband, Crane Tolliver. Bearing proof that he and Lila never were legally divorced - and thus, that all of the Quartermaines were illegitimate - he teamed up with son Alan's vengeful ex-mistress, Susan Moore, to blackmail the family. When Susan backed out of their deal, he killed her and shortly thereafter died himself. Lila then wed Edward legally and officially in 1983.

When Alan's on-again/off-again wife, Monica Quartermaine, and her lover, Sean Donely, bankrupted the Quartermaines and threw them all out of their home in 1986, Lila complained very little about their having to take up residence above Kelly's Diner. She was too busy beginning a business of her own - Pickle-lila, a delicious relish that swept the nation and put the Q's back in the black. In 1989, even though Edward disappeared into the Bermuda Triangle and was thought to be dead, Lila shed few tears for her beloved husband. She preferred conversing with his portrait, which wasn't all that odd considering that it talked back. Lila was reunited with Edward in 1991, when their daughter Tracy discovered him playing beach bum in the Bahamas. A year later, after Lila took a bad spill, she opted not to have surgery. Instead, she decided, she would live out the rest of her days in a wheelchair.

In 1993, Lila took on a personal assistant, Brenda Barrett. When the teenager's sister, Lila's grandson Ned Ashton's lover Julia, left Port Charles, Lila invited Brenda to stay with them.

Ned commissioned Felicia Jones to write Lila's memoirs. Lila told Felicia about love letters that Edward had sent her during the war. Lila had given them to her cousin for safekeeping. Lila Quartermaine came to Port Charles with the rest of her family in 1978 when Alan decided to stay at General Hospital and bought a house in town. The family matriarch, Lila is adored by pretty much anyone she encounters and even those that have left the family by choice still make an effort to come see her.

In the process of writing Lila's memoirs, Luke and Felicia uncovered a family secret that had been kept hidden by Edward: Edward had killed Lila's fiancé and married her in his place. But Lila wouldn't let her husband take the blame for this. She revealed the actual truth: Eliot had forced himself on her after discovering that Edward had been romancing her with love letters that he signed as Elliot and Lila had hit him on the head with a fireplace poker. Eliot died and they covered up the truth. Luke and Felicia agreed to keep the truth a secret.

In 2000, A.J. and his pregnant ex-wife Carly got into a fight at the top of a staircase at the Quartermaine Mansion. A.J. was intoxicated at the time, and Carly made A.J. mad when she reminded A.J. of her relationship with mobster Sonny Corinthos, flashing her ring in A.J.'s face. Sonny and Carly had an affair while she was still married to A.J., and Carly wound up pregnant with Sonny's child. So, A.J. wasn't the happiest man in the world at the time. A.J. grabbed Carly's hand while she was flashing him her ring; Carly pulled away, and, in doing so, she took a nasty tumble down the stairs. Carly was taken to the hospital, while A.J. ran off to drink his problems away. Hannah Scott managed to take A.J. back to the mansion, where the family sat hoping that Carly would come out just fine. After the family got the call that Carly did indeed miscarry her baby, each family member reminded A.J. that he was a disappointment to all of them. However, Lila begged A.J. to quit drinking, for it did more harm than good.

The family was stunned when Tracy returned to town with Dillon in 2003. The only person happy to see Tracy back was Lila, who welcomed her back when no one else would. However, Lila made Tracy promise to be on her best behavior during her stay at the mansion. However, Tracy had an agenda. Tracy revealed to Skye that she wasn't really Alan's daughter, for Rae Cummings had a rendezvous with some man other than Alan. Tracy tried to blackmail Skye into giving her $5 million using this information, but Skye refused to take Tracy's blackmail seriously. Skye called a family meeting and she revealed that she wasn't a true Quartermaine. Tracy actually thought that she'd get recognition for exposing Skye and Rae as gold-diggers, but she was way, way wrong. Tracy expected Lila to understand, but Lila didn't. Lila told Tracy that should be ashamed for hurting Skye, and she ultimately kicked Tracy out of the mansion. Tracy left Port Charles - and her son Dillon - behind... only to be back months later with a new plan of action.

In July 2004, Lila said told Edward that she loved him before going to bed one evening. She then died peacefully in her sleep. The entire family and town were shocked by her passing. The usual family bickering took place as they tried to deal with their grief. A memorial service was held for Lila and many of her family members spoke of what a wonderful person she was to everyone. Emily has taken over the role of family peacemaker and has also encouraged Jason to have more contact with the Quartermaines as a favor to Lila.