Local service slated for Swissair crash victims

Thursday, Sept. 24, 1998 | 10:57 a.m.

A memorial service for the Las Vegas couple killed in the crash of Swissair Flight 111 is set for 2 p.m. Saturday at Central Christian Church, 3415 S. Mojave Road.

It will be the second service for James Lucas, 72, and his wife, Anna Lucas, 74, natives of West Virginia who had been Las Vegas residents for 19 years. Prior services were last Saturday in Charleston, W.Va.

The couple was on vacation to Europe when their MD-11 plane, which took off from New York, crashed Sept. 2 near Nova Scotia, killing all 229 on board.

The Lucases, married for 48 years, were a former ballroom dancing team. They opened several dance studios in West Virginia.

The couple had been world travelers for more than 30 years. James Lucas won their first trip to Europe on the popular television game show "Concentration," during several appearances in February 1963.

Over the years, the Lucases visited Europe several times, as well as the Caribbean, China and other exotic lands.

Born July 25, 1926, near Charleston, James Lucas was the youngest of seven children. He graduated from the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Fla., with an engineering degree and for a while worked for an oil company.

He served in the Army during World War II.

Born Anna Brewer on Feb. 26, 1924, in Charleston, Anna Lucas developed an early interest in dancing, which she pursued after graduating from high school.

The two met in 1949 after they were hired as instructors at a dance school in Coral Gables. They married the next year.

As a dance team, they appeared on the "American Bandstand" TV show. He also managed several nightclubs on the East Coast.

The Lucases moved to Las Vegas in 1979 because the drier climate was recommended for Anna Lucas, who suffered from asthma.

They are survived by their son, Jim Beckett, of Henderson; two daughters, Susan Patterson of Las Vegas and Jeanann Folk of Henderson; six grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren. Also, he is survived by three brothers, Charles, Pat and Evert Lucas.

DONATIONS: In the Lucases memory to Zelzah Shrine Temple, 2222 W. Mesquite Ave. 89106.