Antonio Basco’s heart was broken two years ago when he lost the love of his life, a woman he called “angel,” to a shooting in a Walmart in El Paso, Texas.
Basco, who invited the world at large to his wife’s funeral because of their dearth of family nearby, died almost two years to the day after Margie Kay Reckard, one of the 23 fatalities of the mass shooting. While family members were on hand back then, so were hundreds of well-wishers.
On Sunday, the same funeral home that handled the services for Reckard posted a poignant plea for more “El Paso love” for her widower.
“Two years ago we met an amazing man by the name of Mr. Antonio Basco,” wrote Perches Funeral Home, which is handling Basco’s burial pro bono. “He was married for 22 years to his wife Margie Kay Reckard, one of the 23 victims of the El Paso Walmart shooting. Mr. Basco passed away this morning and it breaks our heart, just two years after his wife’s funeral from the Walmart shooting.”
The funeral home will reach out to his next of kin and is planning a memorial service “to commemorate Mr. Basco and Mrs. Reckard’s second funeral anniversary,” Perches said. “We invite you as a community to join us and show him some El Paso Love. #EPSTRONG made him stronger when he was alone.”
Reckard’s daughter and two sons had traveled to El Paso for her funeral, which was also attended by members of the FBI’s El Paso division. No further details were given on Basco’s cause of death.
