Lucas, Thomas Parker

Feb 25, 2016

May 31, 1934 – January 19, 2016

On Saturday, January 30, we bid farewell to an old friend and long time Eagle Lake cottager, Tom Lucas. Tom’s daughters, Linda, Nancy and Susan had organized a celebration of life at the family’s place of worship, The Church on the Hill, in Flushing, NY. Helen was there with the girls and their husbands, of course, as well as siblings, nieces and nephews, grand-children and a host of friends – some from Eagle Lake.

Tom was born in 1934 and grew up in Manhattan before moving to Queens to raise his family. He served in the National Guard from 1952 until 1966 where he attained the rank of captain. He taught biology at Forest Hills High School from 1959 until 1991. Tom’s parents, Joe and Alice, began renting the Sunter cottage near Parham Landing around 1940 and then rented Pine Point for many years. Tom and Helen built ‘Lucas Landing’ in 1965 and spent most of every summer there until just recently.

Eight family members spoke in the church service and a half dozen friends spoke at the reception which followed. A grand-son spoke of Tom with great affection and told of things he had learned at the lake. Sons-in-law spoke of adventures shared and Tom’s determination to make everything right. Tom’s sister spoke of childhood memories of Pine Point. His brother told of bringing a cottage load of furnishing from New York in a rented truck and taking them to the new cottage in a small aluminum boat. An old friend spoke of how the love and sharing nature of Tom and Helen had brought them a new set of friends and opened a new community for them at Eagle Lake. And one of the girls spoke of her personal love for her father and the positive influence he had had on all of their lives.

The church was decorated with orange and blue flowers and many speakers wore orange ties and baseball caps, all in recognition of Tom’s long standing love of the New York Mets. The minister in his closing remarks spoke of Tom’s many fine characteristics and called him a “man of faith”. He said, “You must have faith to go on supporting the Mets for decades.” The service ended with the organist playing ‘Take me out to the Ball Game’. Tom would have loved it!

Bill Bowick,

February 2, 2016