El Paso shooting victim's funeral moved to larger venue amid overwhelming response to husband's plea

EL PASO, Texas - A man whose wife was among those killed in the El Paso mass shooting invited the public to her funeral because he has no other family. The response was so overwhelming that the funeral was relocated to a larger venue to accommodate all of the people who said they would attend.

Margie Kay Reckard, 63, died on Aug. 3 along with 21 other people when a gunman opened fire in a Walmart. She had been married to her husband, Antonio Basco, for 22 years.

Perches Funeral Home, one of dozens of funeral homes in the area offering free services for the victims, shared an image of Basco at the memorial site on Facebook. The post urged people to attend Reckard’s funeral because Basco has no other family.

“Mr. Antonio Basco was married for 22yrs to his wife Margie Reckard, he had no other family. He welcomes anyone to attend his wife’s services. Let’s show him and his wife some El Paso Love,” the post said.

The call to action was put out on Monday and within hours, the funeral home updated the post that funeral services were relocated due to such an outpouring of support.

“We really appreciate all the beautiful messages and comments everyone has sent. Due to the overwhelming response of the community about the funeral services for Margie K. Reckard, we will be relocating it to a larger venue,” the update said.

The visitation will be held on Friday from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at La Paz Faith – Perches Funeral Homes, 1201 N. Piedras St. in El Paso. There will be a prayer service at 7 p.m.

The funeral will be on Saturday at 9 a.m. at Restlawn Cemetery, 8700 Dyer St. in El Paso.

Funeral home staff said any orders of flowers or cards will be taken to the new location.

Reckard was born in Washington, D.C., according to an obituary on Perches’ website. The funeral home’s director, Harrison Johnson, said Wednesday that Reckard has children and grandchildren.

A local journalist, Carlos Armendariz, set up a GoFundMe account after hearing Basco’s story. Armendariz said he’s been in touch with Basco and also added one of Basco’s friends to help take charge of the account.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.