Born on September 3, 1941, to Chauncey and Opal Lucas in West Hamlin, West Virginia, Jim was one of ten siblings (7 boys, 3 girls). He grew up in rural Lincoln County, West Virginia, where he helped to maintain his family’s small farm while his father worked in the coal mines. His proudest achievement in his youth was a coveted win at a National Soil Judging Competition as a member of the Future Farmers of America. In February 1960, he joined the US Air Force and served honorably until his discharge in November 1963.
It was during his last year in the Air Force that he met his future wife, Carol Tunis, when a friend asked him to play wingman on a double date. Jim and Carol dated for two years after that night, and were married on September 4, 1965. At the time of Jim’s passing, he and Carol had been married for 53 years.
Their family grew with the arrival of their sons, Bryan Dwayne Lucas in 1969 and Dale Kevin Lucas in 1975. Both sons remember their father as kind, loving, stubborn as a mule, and possessed of both warm humor and dry wit. They also agree the man cooked a mean pot of chili.
Mirroring his steadfast dedication to his marriage and family, Jim also worked at the Kennedy Space Center, as an on-site logistics manager, for 49 years. In conversation, Jim was often known to comment upon his love for America’s space program and his pride at having a small supporting role to play in it. During his many years there, he was known among colleagues and subordinates as a capable, trustworthy and dedicated supervisor of unwavering integrity.
A lifelong lover of all things green and growing, Jim spent many years cultivating both vegetable and flower gardens at his home in Orlando. In recent years, one of his most beloved pastimes was making his backyard welcoming to both birds and butterflies, so that he could sit on the back porch and watch for new, colorful visitors with a pair of binoculars. His leisure hours were most often spent working in the yard, washing his car, or verbally berating the Miami Dolphins, who always had his support, but rarely made him proud.
Jim was preceded in death by his father, Chauncey Rock Lucas; his mother, Opal Agnes Lucas; his brothers Jennings Dale Lucas and Okey Dwayne Lucas; and his sister, Esther Martens. Surviving him are his wife, Carol Lucas; his son Bryan Lucas, along with Bryan’s wife, Lorie, and their children, Erika and Trevor; his son Dale Lucas, along with Dale’s son, Gabriel James Curet Lucas and Dale’s fiancé, Liliana Sueiro; and six brothers and sisters and their spouses: Fred L. and Jeanie Lucas; Chauncey L. ‘Bud’ and Lula Lucas; Allen and Peggy Lucas; Roger and Billie Lucas; Sharon and Ronnie Lucas; Karen and George Porter; and many loving nieces and nephews.
Jim Lucas lived a long, good life. He was a model of kindness, generosity, quiet dignity and masculine grace. He uplifted, supported and motivated those he worked with. He was proud of his family, and he made his family proud. However deep the pain of losing him might be, the love and joy and happy memories he left behind go even deeper, and will endure far longer.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Cornerstone Hospice, Alzheimer
Association, or Azalea Park United Methodist Church Memorial Fund.
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