Conversation With Dr. Charles Lucas, ‘55. If you are talking about athletes at De La Salle with Dr. Charles Lucas, DLS Class of 1955, you should be cautious to exercise the correct language. “It’s student athletes, with an emphasis on student,” he says enthusiastically. Dr. Lucas should know. He personifies what it means for a Pilot to utilize athletic experiences as a means to learn the lessons of hard work, discipline, teamwork, and leadership. A letterman in three DLS sports, Dr. Lucas has been a Medical School faculty member at Wayne State University since 1967, and a practicing surgeon since 1968, gaining legendary status within the medical community. He is one of four siblings who graduated from De La Salle. And all four earned Doctorate degrees in their fields: Jack (‘47) in Dentistry, Bob (‘48) in Medicine, and Bill (‘51) in Mathematics. Recently, “Charlie,” the youngest, arranged for the Varsity Locker Room to be named in honor of the four Lucas brothers.
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What an extraordinary accomplishment. Four boys who became doctors in different disciplines. Medicine, Math, Dentistry. You’ve chosen to honor them for their dedication to hard work and their career accomplishments. What led you to choose the locker room? At De La Salle you become a whole person. The emphasis on scholarly activity and prowess must always be emphasized at a school like DLS. Athletics are a portion of this growth of a person that helps them achieve their ultimate destiny whatever that is. The term “locker room” really does not reflect the wonderful training for student athletes who use the discipline of athletics to enhance their scholastic endeavors. Tells us about your family, and your brothers. My parents were from farming families in Ontario, not far from Toronto. They were very modest people. They emigrated to Detroit, and my dad went to work in a factory. We lived on Glenfield, just a mile from
the school. My brothers and I all attended St. David’s, and all four of us attended De La Salle, and then we all went to the University of Detroit. Jack lettered in football, basketball, and baseball. After graduation, he was the only member of his University of Detroit dental class to have gotten into dental school in two years. He graduated number one in his class. Jack went into the armed services at the end of dental school, which was good, because we had helped pay his tuition for dental school, and now the service would take care of it. Jack passed away in May (2014). My brother Bob lettered in football, basketball, and track. The Detroit Free Press came out with a series in the 1950’s about the ten best athletes in the history of the school; Bob was one of their selections. Although I’ve never seen it in print, I’ve been told Bob was chosen the best all-around athlete in his class. He was definitely a man for all seasons. Bob attended Wayne State University for med school. He went into the service after his internship, and spent a year on the faculty at Wayne before going into general surgery. He is a retired physician and lives in Royal Oak. I believe the school records show that Bill may have received as many as twelve varsity letters. He lettered in football, basketball, track, and rowing. He was also selected as the best all-around athlete in his class. He received his master’s degree in Math and Physics within five years at the University of Detroit, prior to getting his doctorate with special emphasis in game theory. After obtaining his doctorate, he became a renowned world-class mathematician whose works are included in the Encyclopedia Brittannica. If you look him up on Google, you’ll see some of his publications. Bill was a professor at Cornell for many years, before his death in 2010.
