Leo E. "Gene" Lazzo, 90, of Roeland Park, KS, passed away August 22, 2023 at his home. A Rosary will be prayed at 9:00 AM, followed by a visitation until the Funeral Mass at 10:30 AM on Thursday, August 31, 2023 at St. Agnes Catholic Church, 5250 Mission Road, Roeland Park, KS. Interment will be in St. Joseph Cemetery, Shawnee, KS. The family requests memorial contributions to Harvesters of Kansas City.

Gene was born in Kansas City, KS on Christmas Day, 1932, to Leo and Kathryn Lazzo. He attended St. Peter's Cathedral Grade School, Ward High School, and Kansas City, Kansas, Community College, and St. Benedict's College, Atchison, KS, where he was a member of the NAIA national championship basketball team, and where he graduated in 1954 with a B. S. in Physical Education. He served in the U.S. Army from 1954 to 1956, and in 1960, received his M. S. in Education from the University of Kansas.

From 1958 to 1962, Gene was on the faculty of Maur Hill High School, Atchison, KS, where he taught mathematics and social studies, and was head coach of the basketball team. He taught for one year at Bishop Miege High School, Roeland Park, KS and in 1963 accepted a teaching position with the Kansas City, MO School District. For the next 34 years, he taught mathematics at Southeast High School, Kansas City, MO, retiring in 1996.  

Gene was preceded in death by his parents, a brother, John Elliott, and a sister, Mary Pendleton. Survivors include his wife, Janelle, whom he married in 1959; one daughter, Susan, of Boston, MA; five sons, Michael (Melinda) Wichita, KS; Mark (Mary Ann) Wichita, KS; Thomas, Mission, KS; John (Joanie), Overland Park, KS; and David, Olathe, KS; four granddaughters, Megan Sellers, Michaela Lazzo, Peyton Hall, and Drew Lazzo; four grandsons, Matthew, Jacob, Max, and Jackson Lazzo; one sister, Nancy Slaughter of Kansas City, KS, and one brother, Michael, of Clinton Township, MI, seven great grandchildren, Landon, Ellie, Maggie, Johnny, Sam, Lucy, Harper, and extended family.