Francis L. Lucas, 89, of Hopedale, died November 16, 2011, in Harrington House in Walpole.
Born in Attleboro, Massachusetts, the son of the late Leo I. and Stella M. (Jakubowski) Lucas. He was raised in Attleboro and attended Attleboro High School for which he celebrated his 70th Reunion. After High School he attended the Massachusetts Maritime Academy graduating in1942 with a degree in Engineering and an Ensign’s commission in the United States Navy. He also attended three semesters at Brown University after WWII.
Ensign Lucas’ first job was an engineer on a destroyer serving in the Pacific in WWII. In 1948 through1949 he was recalled into the Navy to serve with NATO for the war in the Middle East. In 1949 he returned to civilian life only to return again to the Navy to serve in the Korean War in 1951. While serving with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean he meet people such as Sir Winston Churchill, movie stars Irene Dunn and Joseph Cotton, and playwright Arthur Miller. After leaving the Navy again he remained in the Reserves and retired from the Navy as a Commander in 1982.
After WWII, Mr. Lucas worked for Mutual Boiler and Machinery Insurance Company and later for Factor Mutual Engineering and Research, later called FM Global. H retired from FM Global in 1984. He lived in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Salt Lake City, Utah, and in 1972 moved to Franklin and then moved with his wife to Hopedale to live with their daughter in 1994. He was married to his wife Lillian M. Lucas, for 53 years. Mrs. Lucas passed away in 2005.
He leaves behind his three children, Francis L. Lucas, Jr. of Champion, Ohio, and Barbara Ann Lucas and Arthur R. Lucas of Hopedale.
He is also survived by his sister Helen Honoski of Old Greenwich, Connecticut and his grandchildren, Joseph Lucas and Heather Lucas-Penton.
Services will be private, with burial in the Massachusetts National Veterans Cemetery in Bourne next to his wife.
Instead of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 20 Prospect St. Milford, MA 01757. Arrangements are under the care of the Ginley Funeral Home of Franklin (www.ginleyfneralhomes.com)