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Sol Lazinger, 87, retired commercial real estate investor, World War II vet

Sol Lazinger, 87, a retired commercial real estate investor and broker and decorated World War II veteran, died Sunday, June 10, of renal failure at Pennsylvania Hospital.

Sol Lazinger, 87, a retired commercial real estate investor and broker and decorated World War II veteran, died Sunday, June 10, of renal failure at Pennsylvania Hospital.

The son of Polish immigrants, Mr. Lazinger grew up in the Bronx, helping out in his father's bakery and working as a delivery boy for Walgreens drugstore.

After graduating from high school at 17, he enlisted in the Army and was attached to the 117th Battalion, 30th Infantry Division.

He landed on Omaha Beach in mid-June 1944 and saw action in France, Belgium - where he was hit by shrapnel - and the Netherlands. By October, his unit had crossed the Würm River along the Siegfried Line in Germany. Mr. Lazinger, a private, was shot during heavy fire in the town of Ubach, Germany.

Though his ankle was shattered, he later told his family, he was able to escape flying bullets by rolling into a basement. U.S. troops rescued him the next day. He later found out the rest of his unit was wiped out, his daughter Lizette Tarragano said.

He was treated at a field hospital and then at hospitals in England, Virginia, and New York. Doctors initially wanted to amputate his leg, but because he was so young, they decided to try to save it, his daughter said. The injury left him with a pronounced limp that he considered a badge of honor, she said. He was awarded two Purple Hearts and a Silver Star.

After his recovery and discharge, Mr. Lazinger helped out on his family's chicken farm in Freehold, N.J.

In 1950, he married Jean Weinstock, a native of Poland and a Holocaust survivor. In 1945, the 30th Infantry Division had liberated her from a death train in Germany.

Mr. Lazinger eventually earned a real estate license and became a commercial broker in Lakewood, N.J., where he and his wife raised four children.

In the mid-1990s he began to acquire and manage residential rental properties in Center City with his son Zeff Lazinger.

Mr. Lazinger returned to Europe in 2004 with his sons, Zeff and Maxwell, for the 60th anniversary of the D-Day invasion and traveled to England, France, the Netherlands, and Ubach, Germany.

He was initiated as a chevalier in the French National Order of the Legion of Honour. He and his sons were founding members of the National World War II Museum in New Orleans.

Mr. Lazinger supported the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces and Jewish War Veterans, Disabled American Veterans, and other veterans organizations.

He collected books on World War II and enjoyed working out at a gym, strolling Center City, and traveling. In the last 15 years, he visited Europe a dozen times with family, Zeff Lazinger said.

In addition to his wife, sons, and daughter, Mr. Lazinger is survived by another daughter, Marlene Rubin; eight grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

A funeral was Monday, June 11, at Kesher Israel Synagogue in Society Hill. Burial was in Mount Sinai Cemetery in Lakewood.

Donations may be made to Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey Chapter, 500 Office Center Dr., Suite 400, Fort Washington, Pa. 19034.