Terry Lee Lucas

Our first date was to his Junior Prom, I was 13 and he was 16. We dated for 5 years before we married. He joined the U.S. Army after asking me to marry him. My Dad received orders to RAF Croughton, England Air Force Base, and being in the Army the closest he could get stationed to me was West Berlin, Germany. We saw each other for ten days every four months for 2 1/2 years. Then we were married on base June 20, 1976. We had a Catholic service and England does not recognize the Catholic Church. So we were married again on June 21, 1976 by the local registrar. We could not get an appointment the same day. We went on our honeymoon to Cruden Bay, Scotland. Terry chose this location, it was wonderful, a small fishing village, one store, one gas station, one hotel. We woke up to bagpipe music. The hotel made us a lunch and we took it to an old castle with no roof on the cliffs overlooking the ocean. After our honeymoon, we went together to West Berlin, Germany. We lived there for 2 1/2 years. So both of us were overseas for 5 years straight. In Germany, we had a year waiting list for base housing, so we lived close to Temple Hoff Airport. We met an older lady who had dual citizenship with the United States and Germany. She was an artist, and she gave us a small painting that she made. She had many stories of when Berlin was occupied by the Russians and how she would have to hide in the attic. A bar of soap was a luxury. When the Americans came there in the streets, she ran outside to get help and they did not believe that she had dual citizenship. She was crushed. Terry was sent for training exercises for 30 plus days at a time, and I didn't speak the language or know how to get around yet, so we went to the dog pound and found a 6 month old German Shepherd. She didn't bark so we picked her and took her home on the public bus. She only understood German, so that is what we used to direct her. The whole time we lived in West Berlin, we took either the Bus or the underground train. They would let you continue to ride on and off so long as you were going in the same direction for 90 minutes at a time. Terry learned conversational German, I took a class and his was much more practical for everyday use. Terry and his unit repelled down the many stories high Funkturm tower. He was trained on weapons, tanks, buses, how to repair them and drive them. After being in Berlin for awhile, he was promoted to the West Berlin Drill Team, and their job was to do performances for dignitaries all over Europe, as a goodwill gesture. He was trained to throw M16 rifles with bayonets on the end of them over his head to the soldier behind him and they would catch them, they would twirl them, throw them up into the air and then catch their own rifles back again. They would tap them loudly on the floor in uniformity as well as click their heels with metal bottoms in unison. They were very sharp, their uniforms had to be in perfect order, pressed to perfection and of course, their boots were spit polished like mirrors. He would spend hours shining his boots. He was blessed to go to Sweden, Bremerhaven, Hamburg, Bremen, Scotland and many many more locations. He performed at the Edinburg Tatoo in the Edinburg Castle, Scotland where he met Prince Charles. He also met with the Bagpipe players in their kilts, the British Military as well as many others. Back in West Berlin, he was also on the Honor Guard who marched in parades and carried the American Flag, and the Army Flag. They did a TV commercial of them for the military TV channel in West Berlin. He guarded the Brandenburg Gate, where there was one last prisoner (Russian) there. The drill teams pictures were in local fliers and magazines where ever they traveled advertising their performances. They were also given large banquets as thank you's from the towns they performed in. One performance in Holland, they traveled to the wooden clog factory and each soldier received a clog set in their shoe size. The wall separating East Berlin, the Russian side and West Berlin, the free side was still up, it had not come down yet. There were painted grave signs and names of those who gave their lives trying to cross the wall to freedom. The soldiers in the watchtowers would spot them and shoot them on the spot. We were able to travel to the East side of Berlin with government orders stating when we would be going and by what time we would be returning. We traveled through Check Point Charlie, and the Russians would search our buses coming and going . They would search under every ones seat and the bus storage bins on the outside of the bus looking for people trying to escape East Berlin to get to freedom. There was a black market in East Berlin also, the government would come and take a large percentage of the business' profits, so to survive they would fill a closet with crystal ashtrays and glasses, Persian rugs, coco clocks, etc., things that the Westerners like to buy and they would pocket that money. Things like crystal ashtrays, crystal glasses, coco clocks, Persian rugs, etc. It was not uncommon for there to be a long line down three blocks waiting for a loaf of bread. Their window displays were pretty much empty, but in West Berlin their window displays were full of fur coats and very expensive items. Such a drastic difference of how both cities lived daily. The government was given a large sum of money to build a church and they built a radio tower instead, so the outside of the tower showed a cross on it, from all angles. So the government took it apart several times and reassembled it only for the pope's curse to show again in the form of a cross. In 1979, Terry was reassigned to Fort Carson Base in Colorado Springs Colorado. Then he returned to civilian life in 1979. He served almost 7 years before exiting. We then moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming, where his in-laws lived. He went to Laramie Community College studying computer programming and journalism. He won the Texas Collegiate Award for one of his articles. He enjoyed hunting deer, and elk, fishing, camping, cross country skiing, boating and all types of outdoor life. He worked at FE Warren Air Force Base in the recreational supply department, they serviced and loaned out ski’s, campers, boats, cross country ski's etc. Then he managed a cleaning crew on the night shift of a several story bank, in addition to his day job and he rode his bicycle to and from home and jobs. Even in the winter and rain. Shelly did as well, we worked together at the bank and she worked at DePaul Hospital during the day. He also delivered weekend newspapers to rural routes in Wyoming later on when he had a CJ5 Jeep with 4-wheel drive for the winters in Wyoming. It was not uncommon for there to be snowdrifts as high as the top of the roofs of the homes where he delivered, but his jeep always got through. After Wyoming, he moved to Phoenix, Arizona and he remained there the rest of his life. In Arizona, he learned to do electrostatic painting, cabinetry making, welding, claims department for Hartford Insurance Company in the homeowners department, a Toyota auto salesman, also for the telephone company and American Express. His last job was working for the State of Arizona as a habilitation and attendant care provider for our adopted special needs son Bryan. He has nine disabilities. This was his favorite job. When Terry was very young, he and his sister were taken away from his mother and placed in foster care, she would not let the be adopted out. It was for this reason we always wanted to adopt a child and give them a chance. We adopted Bryan at three weeks old, he is now 27 years old. When his mother remarried and her husband found out she had kids, he said well let's go get them, and they did, from that time on he considered Kap (Robert) his dad. We have both always felt that blood doesn't make you a father, it is who is there for you, loves you and wants to be there. His sister Vickie and Terry were very close.... she helped convince their mother to let him have this hair style or those clothes to look cool. They had a lifelong bond that was unbreakable and always supportive of each other. His sister Julie also had an unbreakable bond with Terry, when Vickie and Terry were in the orphanage/foster care she would walk a very long distance regularly to visit him so he would know he had another sister who loved him very very much. His childhood was challenging, but he loved strong and made many friends easily. He had a deep love for all kinds of animals. In Wyoming, we raised rabbits, and had two German Shepherds, a parakeet and a gardener snake whose tail was run over by a car and he nursed him back to health. Horses, there aren’t enough words how much he loved them. He knew they would never judge him either, which was done to him many times in his life unfairly. Then finally, motorcycles were in his blood. His mother rode motorcycles and went to races. Both sisters have ridden on them, and Terry owned three different ones. He always had a deep desire to read and learn, no matter how old he got, he never stopped and he could read a book once and pretty much memorize it Needless to say with all his many talents and working with his hands, we saved a lot of money with car repairs, etc..

Terry was born in 1954, in Dayton, Ohio. In his youth, he was a paperboy, and a boy scout. He worked as a dishwasher at the NCO Club at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Fairborn, Ohio. Then he also worked at the Officers Horse Stable, and as a yellow cab driver. He graduated in 1973 and was an excellent student and a fast learner. He is survived by his wife of almost 47 years, Shelly and his son Bryan Lucas. His son Robert Lucas passed away before Terry. He is also survived by his siblings Julie Eckert and her husband Tom, his sister Vickie Lucas-Hopkins and her husband Mic, and his brother Lowell Lucas. He is survived by his granddaughter Tammra Smith along with other nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews. Terry's journey ended on January 26, 2024 and he takes his final turn as his cremated remains will rest alongside his son Robert Lucas at The Phoenix Memorial and Mortuary Cemetery at 200 W. Beardsley Rd., Phoenix, AZ, 85027, close by the tower in the cemetery. We celebrate a life well lived and a soul who loved the Lord, his family, friends and people deeply.

From Shelly’s' Heart; I know that Terry's death is not the end. I miss him beyond words. I have faith, love and hope in my Savior Jesus Christ and his Atonement that we can be an eternal family, if I live right, love others and serve others and continue to learn of Jesus Christ and of course ask forgiveness of my sins. What a joyous reunion we will have with our family. Jesus Christ said, "I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you." We are taught that, "He is the light and life of the world, yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened, yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death." Terry gave me a candle that had a poem on it that said, "For those who truly love, time is an eternity." We were teenagers at the time and now that it is full circle, how true it is. God be with you Terry, until we meet again. I Love you for time and all eternity... Shelly. The song we sang at his funeral was "Love one another". It goes like this, "As I have loved you, Love one another, This new commandment: Love one another. By this shall men know, Ye are my disciples, If ye have love, One to another.