Anita Lacava Thorne

Anita Lacava Thorne, age 93, of Scottsdale, AZ passed away on May 27, 2025. Anita was born to Pasquale “Michael” Lacava and Evangeline Margaret “Eva” Reed Lacava in Patton, PA in 1931. She was raised there and after graduating from Patton High School she moved to Pittsburgh to attend Allegheny General Hospital School of Nursing. She graduated in 1952 and as an RN and went on to become the Head Nurse at AGH on the 9th floor. Anita, who was always in pursuit of more education, went on to receive her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Pittsburgh. While working at Eye and Ear Hospital full time she returned to Pitt and achieved her Master of Science in Nursing.

Anita was introduced to Ralph Thorne on a blind date by some friends. They eloped on January 3, 1959. In 1964, they moved to a house in Moon Township, PA where they raised their children Douglas and Adrienne. While living on Burch Drive, Anita was a nursing instructor for 17 years at Sewickley Valley Hospital School of Nursing.

In the fall of 1983, the entire family relocated to Scottsdale, AZ for Ralph’s job. Anita was an Associate Professor at Arizona State University teaching on campus as well as instructing first year students nursing clinicals at Scottsdale Memorial Hospital until her retirement in 1998. She was a licensed nurse for 69 years. After retirement, she worked at the Maricopa County Clinic vaccinating school age children. She called this her “vacation money”.

Never one to sit still, Anita stayed busy volunteering. Because of her nursing background, she was placed at Greenbaum Outpatient Surgical Center, totaling more than 10,000 hours over 20 years. She was a 30-year season ticket holder to the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra and the Lyric Opera. She was a volunteer usher at ASU Gammage Center and saw every major Broadway play. She played bridge for over 70 years and enjoyed winning as much as laughing about receiving the “booby” prize. She and her sister Carol were skilled genealogists researching their family history for over 40 years. She rediscovered knitting and was 10 short of completing 1000 baby caps for the newborns in the hospital. She loved to travel. She went all over the United States including an elder hostel trip with her grandchildren to historical Philadelphia, her home town in Pennsylvania and New York. She cruised to Alaska, Greece and Turkey. She traveled to France, London and the countryside of England and the UK several times. She purchased a time share which took her on summer vacations to San Diego and Cabo San Lucas that she enjoyed with her children and grandchildren for over 20 years.

Anita is preceded in death by her parents, Mike & Eva Lacava, her husband of 37 years, Ralph, her two sons, David and Douglas and her sister Carol (Glenn) Hockenberry. She is survived by her daughter Adrienne (James) Cronin, her grandchildren Tyler and Kelsey Pevehouse. She is also survived by her nieces Amy Pfeifer, Ann Hause, Lynne Koch and her nephews Gregg and Jeff Cockroft as well as other family members and dear friends. She will be greatly missed.

In lieu of flowers please make contributions to the Arizona Nurses Honor Guard: [email protected]