John III

You all know what an avid Ole Miss fan dad was. He rarely missed a home football game in Oxford. He was so enthusiastic about the Rebels that he was once nominated for President of the Leflore County Ole Miss  alumni association but had to decline since he had never attended Ole Miss. You may ask why not.  The story behind this is that his father Dr. Lucas Sr was on the Dance Committee, the equivalent of the Student Council at Ole Miss in 1919. Governor Bilbo banned fraternities on campus in 1919, and someone burned him in effigy. Doc Doc was called to the Chancellor’s office but did not reveal the name of the perpetrator. Consequently he and his future brother in law were expelled from Ole Miss. At that time if you were expelled from one SEC  school you could not enroll in another, and he and RH Lake had to go all the way to University of Virginia to find a place to  attend.  Consequently Dad was forbidden to enroll at Ole Miss.

Tennis was certainly a passion of his and his group had standing match Wednesday evening and Saturday morning.  Tennis became more popular at the GCC and soon required reserving space in the Club calendar. Some of the women tennis player had the audacity of reserving a court during those Tennis was certainly a passion of his and his group had standing match Wednesday evening and Saturday morning.  Tennis became more popular at the GCC and soon required reserving space in the Club calendar. Some of the women tennis player had the audacity of reserving a court during those sacred times. Dad had an idea to correct that problem he knew that the County Club appointment book was printed by his tennis partner Elliot Lawrence so on the next printing, the book came preprinted with the Wed and Sat times reserved for the men’s tennis group. Another story is how dedicated they were to playing every Wed and Sat. Even flooding would not stop the appointed tennis. In 1973 when there were severe floods, the courts were separated from the parking lot by a large lake. They solved that problem by covering the distance from the parking lot to the courts in a fishing boat.

Dad most of you know was a no nonsense person and especially when it came to medicine. His children had to be seriously ill before getting anything more than an aspirin. This story truly exemplifies that trait. He served two years in the navy, and on his first day on board as the ship’s doctor, he was taken by the physician that he was replacing on a tour of the ship. After breakfast he was taken to the sick bay where there was a long line of sailors waiting to be seen. The first had a minor complaint and received a supply of aspirin and a pink light duty slip. The next sailor also had a minor complaint and also received aspirin and a pink light duty slip. And on and on.

The next day was Dad’s first day as the skip’s doctor, and sure enough there was a long line outside of sick bay. The first sailor came in, and dad sat him down in the exam chair and purposely left the door open to give the sailors in line a good view. He ask the sailor why he was there.  The sailor replied that he had a headache. Dad asked him to point to where, and the sailor pointed to his right temple. Dad then pulled out a 10 cc syringe, filled it with saline, and attached it a 6 inch spinal tap needle and proceeded to inject the saline, harmlessly, into his right temple. The sailor fainted, and the line miraculously and suddenly disappeared. After that, only sailors with real complaints showed up at sick bay.

Personally I have been the only one to have had the honor of practicing surgery with Dad, and no one could have had a better mentor and teacher to learn the craft of surgery from. I learned more in the first few years about being a surgeon and a caring physician than I did in all of my years of training.

Dad, I am truly thankful that you found someone in Mary Dent that you could spend your last years with in such joy and happiness. She has been a blessing to him.

Dad I will miss you dearly.