By Karen Andrew
The Cincinnati Enquirer

HARTWELL - Retired teacher and librarian Althea Louise Heard Lazenby and her husband, Henry, loved to travel. They met during World War II in India, where she served with the American Red Cross and he with the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps.

They spent a memorable 50th wedding anniversary in India.

Mr. Lazenby equated their marriage with their travels.

"Our marriage has been a great trip," he said. "She was like my mother in that she always told me what to do in the right way."

Mrs. Lazenby died Thursday at Hospice of Cincinnati in Blue Ash. A resident of the Evergreen Retirement Community in Hartwell, she was 84.

Born in Jackson, Miss., in 1919, she earned a degree in home economics from Wilberforce University in 1939 and attended Ohio State University for postgraduate studies. Mrs. Lazenby became a home economics teacher at Edward Waters College, Jacksonville, Fla. After a year, she moved to Covington to teach home economics at Lincoln Grant School on Greenup Street. When World War II began, Mrs. Lazenby joined the Red Cross in Washington, D.C., to support the war effort. She was assigned to duty in the China-Burma-India theatre, where she helped set up facilities for the service people.

In 1945, after nearly two years in India, Mrs. Lazenby returned to the United States and worked as a dietitian for a New York hospital. Mr. Lazenby traveled to New York to marry his sweetheart in 1946.

Mrs. Lazenby obtained a certificate in library science from Miami University in 1959 and became a librarian for the Cincinnati Public Schools at Cutter Junior High School 1970. She moved to Walnut Hills High School in 1970 and retired in 1985.

Her memberships included the B&B Bridge Club, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, and the Pan City Garden Club. She was deacon at Carmel Presbyterian Church in Avondale.

Survivors include her husband of 57 years; a son, Henry H. "Chip" Jr. of Portland, Ore; a brother, Squire Heard of Indianapolis; and one grandchild.

Visitation will be 9-10 a.m. today at Carmel Presbyterian Church, 3549 Reading Road, Avondale followed by the funeral service at 10 a.m. Burial will be in the Spring Grove Mausoleum.

Memorials: Hospice of Cincinnati, 4310 Cooper Road, Cincinnati, OH 45242.

E-mail kandrew@enquirer.com