Margaret Elizabeth Lucas

Margaret was the first child born to Ashleigh and Margaret (Margie Park) Lucas.

She is survived by her doting parents; sister, Julia Owens, brother-in-law, Richard Owens; sister, Frances Grant and brother-in-law John Grant; nieces, Katie Owens Lewis and her husband Graham Lewis, Megan Owens, and Allison Grant; nephews, Tyler Owens and Ryder Grant.

Born in Raleigh, NC with Down syndrome, Margaret grew up to lead an exceptional life. After graduating from school in Cary, Margaret worked for Life Experiences for more than 30 years where she loved and was loved dearly by her many coworkers and the caring staff. She insisted on going to work early in the morning so that she could have extra time to socialize with the head staff and maybe share a morning Diet Coke. She also enjoyed working the Life Experiences fundraising events where she shined as the beautiful star she was and charmed the crowd with her infectious joy.

When she was young, Margaret earned many badges as a Girl Scout with her mom as the troop leader and attended a camp in the mountains of Tennessee each summer. She was tickled to show family and friends that she earned lots of ribbons in Special Olympics track, bowling, and swimming events. Shortly after the American Disabilities Act passed, Margaret gave speeches to college recreation classes to teach others how to support adults with intellectual disabilities. She spent time traveling all over North and South Carolina as part of a Disability Awareness team that trained camp counselors to work with people with all disabilities.

More than anything, Margaret passionately loved her family with every ounce of her being. She was very affectionate and generous with her big bear hugs and she was the biggest cheerleader for her nieces and nephews at graduation ceremonies and sporting events. In the crowd, she would always loudly proclaim that they were number one. She remembered everyone’s birthdays. Although Margaret loved everyone, the family vied to claim her ever-changing top-spot (especially her brothers-in-law who regularly tried to catch her on video claiming them to be her “Number One Favorite”). Margaret was fiercely protective of her family. She made this clear in her introductions of her parents, “This is my dad and he is married to my mom.” She even separated her fellow male co-workers when they tried to hug her mom, sisters, or nieces and said that they were only her family to hug. She also really loved her niece’s husband and regularly claimed Graham as her “back-up boyfriend”.

Margaret was also protective of her backpack which she kept secure with a tiny padlock. She filled it full with her important supplies which consisted of notebooks, chemistry and physics books, many pens, pencils, and bottles of Wite-Out. She insisted on carrying her very heavy backpack to work, her bedroom, and even on vacations so that she could practice writing and copying from the college books, and writing letters and wish lists. Her family looked forward each year to her fabulous multi-page extensive Christmas wish list which included many items like “ 3 passes with tickets all together in front row center, sit up close, onstage backstage, all-access Jonas Brothers, and a full stretch limo with a head driver.”

Margaret’s loving mom and dad provided every opportunity for Margaret to live a wonderful life, thrive at school and work, and ensured that she had an abundance of extracurricular activities. She was the life of the party at dances and was devoted to her bowling league and even had her own personal equipment including her famous Dale Earnhardt Jr bowling ball. She was really terrific and bowled many strikes and spares and not too many years ago bowled a 183! On Sundays, she enjoyed her Sunday School class at Hayes Barton United Methodist and loved her teachers and helpers. Margaret also took horseback riding lessons, and piano lessons, and even played a duet with her piano teacher at her graduation. She learned sign language and would sign the song “You Light Up My Life” at special events. Margaret traveled extensively with her parents including many trips to Orlando, a vacation drive across the country, and cruises to Mexico and Alaska.

Margaret was an avid NCSU Wolfpack fan attending all home football and basketball games and many of the NCSU football bowl appearances. Her infectious joy and unabashed enthusiasm endeared fellow Wolfpack fans as she cheered : “Our band is the number one Power of the South”, “Don’t touch my player”, and “We’re gonna snake ‘em”. Even if the Pack was down by 20 points, she never gave up hope for her beloved team and she would say “We got 'em right where we want ‘em!” Margaret also had special connections to many of the NCSU players and coaches and has hugged and taken photos with many of the all-time greats like David Thompson, Dereck Whittenburg, Sidney Lowe, and Kay Yow. Margaret was somewhat famous and some of the players and coaches (Shane Montgomery, Les Robinson, and Herb Sendek) even knew her by her name. Margaret had the special ability as a die-hard number-one fan to celebrate every Wolfpack win … and the losses didn’t count!

Besides family, NC State, and work, Margaret loved music. From BackStreet Boys, NSYNC and Kelly Clarkson to Whitney Houston and Def Leppard, she loved it all. Margaret had an enormous music collection with hundreds of CDs. When talking about the bands that she loved the most, she said “I am their number one fan and I got the CD to prove it!” She was so excited to attend several live concerts and regularly sent her favorite musicians fan letters in the mail (and sneakily sometimes included jewelry in the envelopes). Margaret loved spending time at home planning as the head choreographer and singer for the bands and assigning others as backup singers and dancers.

Another life joy was her time spent at the lake with her family. She loved to drive the boat “flat out” and would be the first to jump in for any “boat run”. She loved to be “the watcher” when the kids would wakeboard, ski, and tube, and signal to the driver when to turn around. She enjoyed cheerleading the riders and after each run would rate their performances by proclaiming “You get about 5 ham sandwiches”. The better the ride, the more ham sandwiches Margaret awarded.

Margaret's family is extremely grateful to the angels who have helped to care for Margaret over the past year: Lynn May, Theria Murrell, Emerica Campbell, Vanessa Flores, and the Amedisys Hospice Nurses. They have been a true blessing to Margaret and the Lucas family.

A visitation for Margaret will be held Monday, April 11, 2022, from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM at Brown-Wynne Funeral Home, 300 Saint Mary's Street, Raleigh, NC 27605, followed by a memorial service from 1:00 PM in the Chapel of Brown-Wynne. Burial will follow the service at Historic Oakwood Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations in remembrance of Margaret should be made to Life Experiences, Inc.,

P.O. Box 282, Morrisville, NC 27560 or bit.ly/LE-donate, 100% of donations currently go to scholarships for adults with intellectual disabilities to attend day programs.

Please view the complete obituary and share fond memories and expressions of sympathy at www.brownwynneraleigh.com.