Edna L. "Skip" (Basnett) Lazaro

Waltham – Mrs. Edna L. "Skip" (Basnett) Lazaro, of Waltham, died Monday, May 30, 2016 at Ellis Nursing Home in Norwood. She was 91.

Skip was born in Prescott, England on July 15, 1924, a daughter of the late Edward and Louisa (Welsby) Basnett. During World War II she met Waltham native Joe Lazaro, then an American GI training with General George Patton's North Africa Corps. Following a whirlwind courtship Joe left with his unit for Tunisia.

While fighting near the city of Florence, Italy in September, 1944 Joe was blinded by an exploding mine. He was treated at military hospitals in Italy and aboard ships before being sent back to the United States to recover at various Army hospitals on the East coast.

During his recovery Joe summoned the courage to write Edna with the sad news of his devastating injury and to release her from the plans they'd made to marry after the war.

Not to be outdone in the courage department, and proving that love is blind too, Edna persevered and enlisted the aid of Eleanor Roosevelt to prevail upon the state department to cut through the red tape and issue her a visa for travel to the United States.

After Joe's period of recovery and training at the Old Farms Convalescent Hospital in Avon, Connecticut, run by Boston's Father Thomas J. Carroll, he was discharged from the Army's Valley Forge General Hospital in Pennsylvania on April 12, 1946.

Less than three weeks later, on April 30, 1946, Joe and Edna, who he affectionately called 'Skip', were married in Waltham. The couple settled in the city to raise their family and were residents since.

Since the day that they exchanged vows Skip spent every day caring for Joe and her family. She was patient, devoted, loving and generous with her time and her talents.

Skip enjoyed simple pleasures in life . . . playing cards on a Saturday night . . . bowling with friends . . . spending a day at the beach . . . shopping with her friend and neighbor, Marge.

Her trips home to England every summer were special times when she was able to re-connect with family and friends across the pond.

Skip's husband of almost sixty-eight years, Joseph C. Lazaro, Jr. died December 25, 2013 and she missed him every day since.

She leaves her children, Lynne Lazaro of Weston, Joan Cavanaugh and her husband, Jerome, of Milton and Joseph C. Lazaro, III, and his wife, Victoria, of Waltham; her grandchildren, Jonathan Cavanaugh, Kathryn Cavanaugh-Donahue, Jessica Lazaro and Amanda Manfredo; her brother, Edward Basnett of Prescott, England and many nieces and nephews.

Skip was also a sister of the late Mabel Basnett.

Family and friends will honor and remember Skip's life by gathering to visit at 10 a.m. on Friday morning, June 10th in The Joyce Funeral Home, 245 Main Street (Rte. 20), Waltham where her funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Burial will follow in Mount Feake Cemetery, Waltham.

Memorial donations may be made to the MSPCA, 350 South Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02130.