Dianne A. Lazaroff

Dianne A. MacCornack Lazaroff, 80, passed peacefully away on December 30, 2023, at Laclede Grove Care Center Nursing Home in St. Louis, MO. Born in Boulder, CO to Richard J. and Joan Wagner MacCornack on February 18, 1943, she lived her life to the fullest traveling the world collecting objects of beauty and fascination.

She attended University Hill Elementary School, Baseline Jr. High where she was head cheerleader and scholastic advocate for higher education. Her sophomore year was spent at Boulder High School. For her Junior and Senior years, she attended Kingswood-Cranbrook School in Bloomfield Hills, MI, a private preparatory boarding school. There, she excelled with honors, often meeting with prestigious members of the community, and becoming exceptionally interested in both the fine arts and politics.

Dianne pledged Kappa Kappa Gamma at the University of Colorado. Boulder. After graduating in 1965, she took an internship job with Senator Don Brotzman in Washington, D.C. There she networked and met with influential businesspeople from across the globe stimulating her incisive quest for adventure and travel.

She was married to Clayton Baxter Claassen in the mid 1960’s landing her eventually in St. Louis, MO which she called home for the past sixty-some years. In 1980, she married commercial Realtor Harold Lazaroff of Michaelson & Company.  Dianne became a major fundraiser and supporter of the St. Louis Opera Theater and the Sante Fe Opera Theater under Founder and director Richard Gaddes.

Dianne was a former Art Teacher at Clayton High School (Missouri) · Former Art Teacher at Mary Institute · Studied Political science at the University of Washington and was known for her extraordinary ability to throw a party at the last minute.

As an exceptional artist, Dianne’s unorthodox use of collecting trash for her paintings propelled her to become the founder of the “Let’s Recycle Trash Movement.” What others viewed as junk, she saw as hidden beauty to be enjoyed and valued. No piece of trash was without merit. Every rusted can or flattened bottle cap was perceived with beauty and awe to be incorporated into a massive work of art. She also developed a specific formula to dip or soak people’s clothing into memorable free-hanging keepsakes for notables such as Norman Champ and former St. Louis Symphony conductor Leonard Slatin, to name but a few.

Dianne was preceded in death by her grandparents Dr. Eugene A. and Harriet H. MacCornack; Ethel Pearl Easton and John Carl Wagner; husbands Clayton B. Claassen and Harold Lazaroff; and deeply loved nephew James Andrew Scrivner. She is survived by her sister Barbara MacCornack Leutwiler, of Boulder, CO; nephew James Brandon Scrivner of Longmont, CO; Dr. Richard Lazaroff and wife Trish; Robert Lazaroff and wife Sally; and Michael Lazaroff. Please address any comments to St. Louis Cremation; www.murphyfunderaldirectors.com/orbituaries ; or bleutwiler@Yahoo.com

Instead of flowers, please contribute honoring Dianne’s life to St. Louis Opera Theater or a charity of your choice.