George William Lucas

George was born on April 19th, 1928 in Wheeling, West Virginia. The son of Edna and Bert Lucas, Brother to Lester Lucas, Bert Lucas and Margaret Ebler. When he was a child he contracted Polio which made him ineligible for service. Wanting to do something, he became an air ward marshal for his town. As a young man he worked for Baseball player Honus Wagner in his sports store. Yes, he did have one of those million dollar baseball cards but he chose to put it in his bicycle spokes. Doh!

His family moved to California in 1950 because Lester, then in the Air Force, was transferred and they followed him. Shortly thereafter, Lester decided to move back East. The family was getting ready to move back but the day before they left George was offered a job at Boneys market in Ontario, so they stayed.

George met Patricia Holt in 1961 at her Aunt’s Café. Pat would pay her coworker .50 cents to be able to wait on George. He always ordered a roast beef sandwich on wheat bread and a cup of coffee. He would tip her a dime – she lost money on the deal every time. George finally asked her on a date and the rest was history.

George spent most of his working life as a grocery store manager. He retired from Lucky’s Market due to injury on the job. He was a member of Retail Clerks, Local 1428.

Those who knew George knew of his love for garage sales and coupons. If he couldn’t find something on sale, he wasn’t going to buy it! It wasn’t just a fun hobby, this was a way of life. He would spend hours going to grocery stores only buying items with his coupons. Every Saturday, before the sun rose, George and Pat would go to garage sales to purchase items to then go sell at the swap meet on Sunday. They stopped selling at the swap only 3 years ago which meant George did this until the age of 81. This is how they supplemented their income and it made George very happy. He had his last garage sale 2 weeks ago. His family is sure that he would not be very happy that his service is being held at a prime garage sale time. We can hear him now: “We won’t be able to go to the sales!”

He loved nothing more than his family. To him, family was everything and he would do anything for them. He is survived by his wife of 48 years Patricia, Daughter Stephanie, Sons George & John and Daughter Karri. He was thrilled to become a Pap Pap to his Grandchildren: Kory, Kasey, Lhana & Jack, Andrew & Paige, Harrison & Cameron. He also leaves behind a Son-in-law Scott and 2 Daughters in-law Debbie & Nancy, his brothers Bert & Lester, his pets Tori & Chloe and many extended family members who will all miss him very much. He was preceded in death by his parents and sister.

Services will be held on Saturday, October 27th, 2012 at Draper Mortuary in Ontario. There is a public viewing at 9:00 a.m. followed by a service at 10:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers the family asks that you make a donation to your favorite charity. Another way of honoring him would be to find a garage sale and buy yourself something you really don’t need but it was just too good a bargain to pass up! That would make him smile.