Epifania "Effie" A. Lazo

Also known as “Pifa” to family and friends, passed away peacefully on Sunday, February 28, 2021 surrounded by her family. She was 94 years of age. Born in Corpus Christi, Texas in 1927 to Jose and Ambrosia Lazo, Effie was a faithful and devoted servant of God, a loving mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, great-great grandmother, sister and tia.

Effie was the most selfless individual you could ever meet. She was full of life stories from her days as a young child picking cotton and growing up on Madero Street. Although she only had an elementary school education, you could affirm she was a scholar in both counseling and medicine. Many family and friends came to her for home remedies and spiritual counseling.    

She was a loyal and dedicated parishioner of both Sacred Heart and Holy Family Catholic Church.

During her life Effie endured many losses, hardships and injustices but her unwavering glory, honor and faith in God never faltered. With the help of her parents, she worked hard and raised four children as a single mother. She was a devoted and loving mother to her children and grandchildren to the very end of her life.

In her 20s and 30s she worked as a meat packer for Sam Hausman Meat Packer Inc., Olsen-Kessler Meat Co. and Biels Grocery Store meat market. She was always proud to divulge that she was the first to be assigned the task of ‘making to perfection’ the beef hamburger patties for local Whataburger restaurants in 1950. Later in life she was a Stanley Products & Avon Representative. She was a “natural” salesperson—never having to use a calculator, always relying on her elementary arithmetic skills.  Recently, she was surprised to learn that a customer found her name and contact information while searching for Stanley products on the internet.

She was especially proud of her worldwide collection of elephants which all started with one elephant that she purchased over 70 years ago. Her collection grew to hundreds over the years with the most recent gifted to her on her birthday in January 2021. She could tell you where each elephant came from and who gifted it to her to the very end.

“Mom, Grandma, Big Grandma, Effie, Pifa, Tia Pifa, & Ms. Lazo” as she was known to family and friends, was loved deeply by all who knew her and will be greatly missed more than words can say. 

She is preceded in death by her parents; sons, Jesus and Jose Lopez; daughter, Maria Magdalena Williams; brothers, Macedonio, Carmel and Tomas Lazo; and sister, Maria de la Luz Benavides.

She is survived by her daughter, Maria Alicia (Erwin) Pruneda of Corpus Christi; brothers Roberto (Amelia) Lazo and Andres (Patsy) Lazo of Corpus Christi; sister, Maria de Jesus (Baldemar) Hinojosa of Houston and 12 grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren, 12 great-great grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.

Please join her loving family in celebrating her life and memory.

A Rosary will be recited at 10:30 a.m., Monday, March 8, 2021 at Holy Family Catholic Church, 2509 Nogales St. Corpus Christi, TX 78416 ·with a Memorial Mass to be celebrated at 11:30 a.m. Interment will follow at 1:00 p.m. at Rose Hill Memorial Park.