Obituary of Paige H. Lorenzi

Paige Heath Lorenzi (b. March 6, 1924) died peacefully Thursday, June 24, 2010 in Hamburg, New York. Her family was with her by her bedside at the time of her death.She was a resident of Sun City Center, FL and a fomer long-time Eden resident, she was preceded in death by her husband, Edward Italo Lorenzi (d. 2002), former Bethlehem Steel superintendent, grape farmer, and Eden school board member. She is survived by sons (and their spouses) Allen (Patricia, Cleveland, OH), Peter (Dena, Timonium, MD), Douglas (Patricia, Chantilly, VA), Theodore (Ruth, Brookfield, Illinois), Frank Joseph (Ginger, Raleigh, North Carolina), and Mark (Leslie, Potomac, Maryland), daughters Frances (Walter) Wilk and Mary Ann(Casey) Neyman of Hamburg, and sister Joan Clark of Axemann, Pennsylvania. Sons James (d. 1983) and Thomas (d. 2008) also preceded her in death. She leaves sixteen grandchildren, a niece and a nephew. Paige Heath was born in Franklin, Pennsylvania to Paul and Vivien Heath. She worked in her father's grocery store and earned a degree from the Pennsylvania State University where she met her husband following World War II. Before they married in 1947 she worked as a nutritionist in Presbyterian Hospital in New York. In the next fifteen years, she welcomed ten children. In 1958, while living in Lackawanna, the Buffalo Evening News featured Paige and her eight children celebrating the start of the school year. They moved to Eden later that year. Paige was an active, engaged mother in a time before car pools, cell phones, daycare, and two-car families. She could often be seen with her knitting needle making hats that she donated to several charities, including the Our Lady of Victory Infant Home. Educating all children was important to her. The seven eldest Lorenzi children graduated from Eden Central. All her children graduated from college and became teachers, engineers, and health care professionals. After raising her own children she was a volunteer at after school programs in Texas and Sun City Center. She enjoyed her children and their love and relished their accomplishments. In 1978, the Lorenzi's moved to Longview, Texas and, later, to Raleigh, North Carolina and then Sun City Center, Florida. Paige spent her last year with her daughter Mary Ann and son-in-law Casey in her daughter's home. Excellent, compassionate hospice care made her final months comfortable and allowed her to be with her family to her death. Paige was happiest with her family as her career and her legacy. She always reminded her children to "leave the world a better place than you found it." A Memorial Mass will be celebrated at 10:00AM Saturday, June 26, 2010 in the St. Bernadette's RC Church, 5930 South Abbott Rd Orchard Park, NY. Flowers gratefully declined. Memorials may be made to the HOSPICE Foundation Of WNY Inc 225 Como Park Blvd, Buffalo, NY 14240. Burial will take place in Arlington National Cemetery. Arrangements have been entrusted to the Laing Funeral Home Inc 2724 W. Church St., Eden, NY To light a memorial candle log onto www.laingfuneralhome.com.