Betsey S. Lazcano

Obituary
BETSEY S. LAZCANO
ITHACA - Betsey S. (Elizabeth) Lazcano, 83, of 421 Mitchell St., Ithaca, died unexpectedly after a long illness on Wednesday, March 3, 2005.Born and raised in Portland, New York, in Chautauqua County, she was the daughter of the late William Elial and Beatrice Fuller Skinner.Betsey was a graduate of Westfield Academy, Westfield, New York, and earned a bachelors degree in Home Economics from Cornell University in 1944.Upon graduating from Cornell, she was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Navy WAVES and served until 1948.She married Arthur W. Lazcano, a career Navy officer, in 1946, and lived with her family on bases in the Philippine Islands, California, Tennessee, and Scotia, New York.She settled in Ithaca in 1960. After earning a Master of Arts in Teaching from State University of New York College at Geneseo, she worked as a substitute teacher in the Ithaca City School District. She later served as a night supervisor at Mann and Olin Libraries at Cornell.Betsey volunteered for the American Red Cross of Tompkins County Armed Forces Emergency Services for many years, and was a poll worker for the Tompkins County Board of Elections. She was a member of the First Baptist Church of Ithaca, and the Women's Fellowship.Betsey is survived by her daughter, Yvonne (James) Rebholz of West Seneca; two sons, William (Eugenie) Lazcano of Cheshire, CT, and Theodore Lazcano of Danby; three grandsons, Robert and Barry Rebholz and Jeffrey Lazcano; sisters-in-law, Shirley Skinner of Portland, N.Y., and Winifred (Ned) Gardner of El Cajon, CA; five nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her husband, in 1998; and a brother, G. William Skinner in 1984.A celebration of Betsey's life will be held at 4:00 p.m., Sunday, March 6, 2005, in the Bangs Funeral Home of Ithaca, 209 W. Green St., Rev. Robert I. Rodgers officiating. A memorial service will be scheduled in Chautauqua County in the summer, with interment in Evergreen Cemetery, Portland, NY. Friends may call from 2-4 p.m., Sunday at the funeral home.Memorial donations may be made to the First Baptist Church of Ithaca or the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Tompkins County.