John A. Luckey Jr.

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My brother, Jack, 59, was born in Mom's obstetrician's office one month early. The doctor refused to believe she was in labor (Why, yes, yes she was). After Mom had Jack, that doctor kindly called a taxi to take her and Jack to the hospital. I guess Dad followed behind in their car. Why no ambulance? I guess the doctor really didn't care if he lived or died. He was only 4 pounds. That was a death sentence in 1963 - but not for Jack.

Jack was a happy baby and as he grew, it became apparent that he was different. He would be evaluated at one place, "His IQ is 50! He cannot do anything!" or "Your kid is a genius!" Thus started our parents' quest for early intervention. This was the 1960s, and early intervention was just starting to gain momentum. Family members had suggested to put him in an Institution and move on. That sickened our parents. They were not about to act on that suggestion.

When Jack was about six, our parents took him to the Institutes for Achievement of Human Potential to have him evaluated for their program. Dr. Doman accepted him into the program. By the end of the year, we had found out he could read, say the ABC's backwards and forwards and count past 200.

Somewhere, between seven and ten, he picked up a map and started memorizing. Our dad had all the state maps and he memorized every one of them. Then he became our Navigator. He would bring the appropriate maps and then when a turn was coming up, Jack would help out "Turn right, Daddy, clickety click, Dad, turn right". His pitch would get higher if Dad wasn't turning on the signal. Finally when Dad would clickety click and turn, Jack would breathe a sigh of relief and sit back.

He also became excellent at dates. No, he did not memorize a perpetual calendar. He calculated the dates in his head. I saw and heard him do it. Dad gave him a date before the Gregorian Calendar (our present calendar) was used and he was able to do the mathematics to adjust the differences between the Gregorian and Julian calendars. When he would meet someone, his standard greeting was, "Hello, What is your name? What is your date of birth?" He would then tell the person the day and date of his/her birth. He was always correct.

He went to Bartlett Learning Center from age 7 to 19. When he turned 18, Mom and Dad were getting worried about him "aging out of the system". They were worried about getting him into a group home and finding work for him. Then they met Francine Bernstein, who was starting her own agency for her son. It would be for autistic men and called BLARE House. The rest is history. Trinity is the agency that was took over BLARE ultimately. When Jack was 21 or 22, he was asked to be on AM: Chicago with Oprah Winfrey. He was able to tell her how to get to a certain address in Arizona by taking the routes he told her. Then he told her the side streets, and finally to turn into the driveway and, "YES you are at _____ in Arizona - GREAT JOB" She also asked him about the date of her birth, again he got it right. The audience loved him. He was a ham.

From the time he was 9 or 10, he started participating in the Special Olympics. He started out running, then the standing long jump, softball throw, and bowling. We followed him everywhere. We were a Special Olympics family. When Mom had passed and Dad could no longer go, I became the cheering squad. It was fun. The athletes are so excited and I met so many nice people.

Jack decided he was retired at 45. Up until his passing, he still attended classes and worked at Trinity's Workshop. He pretty much chilled and liked to go to out to dinner with staff. He loved traveling and he did so with his travel buddy, Larry Marks. He loved to go to Jennifer's house in Ohio, which he did this year when he stayed there from Thanksgiving to January 4.

When my mother passed, my dad was lamenting the fact that Jack was "not normal. He was never successful at life." I looked at him in disbelief. "Not successful? I beg to differ. He has succeeded at life despite all his roadblocks. He is a miracle. God gave him the gift of charm. People want to help Jack because he is charming AND he works hard" (This was before he turned 45 when he started working hard at retiring). The moral of this story is that everyone has miracles inside them. There is always hope for every child born with a disability. You just have to find their spark.

Jack was predeceased by our mother Lee Luckey (nee Cline) and our father John Andrew Luckey Sr.; Jack is survived by two sisters Susan Luckey of Seymour, WI and Jennifer Petrosky of Warren, OH; a niece Leanna (Paul) Dishman, 2 great nieces Isla and Anna of Kansas City, KS; and a nephew James Russell of Taylorsville, Utah.

A visitation for John will be held on Sunday, January 22, 2023 from 1:00 PM - 7:00 PM at Oehler Funeral Home, 2099 Miner St. Des Plaines, IL 60016. Prayers will be said on Monday, January 23, 2023 at 10:15 AM at the funeral home and proceed to St. Isaac Jogues Parish, 8149 W. Golf Rd. Niles, IL 60714 for the funeral mass at 11:00 AM. Interment will be private.

Donations may be made at:

Special Olympics of Illinois

1724 South Finley Road

Lombard, IL 60148

or

Trinity Services Inc. Northwest

2101 Oxford Road

Des Plaines, IL 60018

or

Trinity Services Inc.

301 Veterans Parkway

New Lenox, IL 60451