Heath Ledger’s family is “proud and exited” about the gratitude the world is paying to the actor. Ledger received a posthumous Oscar nomination among other awards and nominations throughout this whole year for his fabulous deranged criminal mastermind the Joker in the Batman movie "The Dark Knight."

"To us ... it seems like merely yesterday, and we are all still nursing broken hearts," Kate Ledger, the actor's sister, said Friday. The family then held a memorial lunch at a restaurant overlooking the beach.

Kate Ledger along with the actor’s other two sisters Ashleigh Bell and Olivia Ledger, read from a prepared statement to reporters Friday at one of the actor's favorite places, picturesque Cottesloe Beach near his hometown of Perth. They were also joined by his father, Kim Ledger, and mother, Sally Bell

His family acknowledged Ledger's Oscar nomination for his role as the Joker in "The Dark Knight:" "In Heath's words, he had the time of his life portraying the Joker and said that it was the most fun he'd ever had working on a film," Bell said.

On the afternoon of January 22, 2008, Ledger's lifeless, naked body was discovered on the bedroom floor of his SoHo apartment by housekeeper Teresa Solomon and masseuse Diana Wolozin. Ledger, who had a daughter, Matilda, with actress Michelle Williams after they starred together in “Brokeback Mountain,” died of an accidental overdose. He was nominated for best supporting actor on the first anniversary of his death.

Thursday's Oscar nomination put Ledger in line for only the second posthumous Academy Award to be handed out to an actor. Peter Finch won for 1976's "Network" about two months after he suffered a fatal heart attack, aged 60.