Edward M. Lucas

He was born August 4, 1936 in Jersey City, NJ to George and Mary Lucas, seventh of their eight children. He was an energetic young man and loved spending time at his relative’s farm in Connecticut. He lived in Jersey City until he married his wife of 57 years, Florence, nee Ward, in Jersey City on November 16, 1963 at Our Lady of Victory. Edward and Florence moved several times early in their marriage including, West New York, and Lake Parsippany until they settled in Toms River in 1973. Edward, Ed or Eddie to his friends and family, worked for Continental Can in Passaic for 10 years, and Paul Kimball hospital in Lakewood, NJ for 25 years. The greatest pleasure of his life was spending time with family, his wife, four daughters, many nieces and nephews and 10 grandchildren. He loved the outdoors; he especially enjoyed riding his bike. He would take his family on long bike rides, hikes, and swims in the ocean whenever there was sunlight to spare. The last hour of sunlight was not wasted on him. If you saw Ed riding his bike, walking or driving around, odds were he would have several children and at least one dog with him. Edward always had great patience with children and animals. He understood the “bad” kid just needed a little more understanding and an outlet for their energy. He was so very generous with his time and also found the resources for everyone to participate in activities. Ed filled the hours of the day with purpose, and recruited kids to help him accomplish his tasks. If he wasn’t offering to take you on an adventure he was giving you a job to do. In doing so, he taught many how to solve problems, and become self-reliant. Ed loved an instructional manual, and wanted everyone to read them. He had a quick, silly sense of humor, he could tell a tall tale or spooky story so convincingly. Ed and Florence loved to go on a cruise, go to the Olive Garden and The Borgata. Ed would look at his wife with a twinkle in his eye and say “You wanna head south?” He could eat his weight at the buffet, and would spend hours working his way through the spread. He enjoyed a good western, and introduced his children to all the great old movies. He enjoyed music, Big Bands, Jazz, Standards and “The music of your life”. His music was played loudly daily for everyone’s enjoyment. He was a good old fashion character of the best kind. He was adored by his daughters and could do no wrong in their eyes. He was preceded in heaven by his parents, siblings Lawrence, William, Alfred, and Irene. He is survived by his siblings Dorothy, Dolores and Geraldine, his wife Florence, daughters Laura Laurienti, Susan Sterling, Amanda Mallan, and Jill Day. He leaves behind his beloved grandchildren Anthony, Zachary and Lucas Laurienti, of Texas, Clayton and Sofie Sterling, Thomas, Anna and Cate Mallan, Charlie and Vivien Day in New Jersey. Visitation will be held at Anderson Campbell Funeral Home, 703 Main Street, Toms River, Wednesday December 23rd from 4-8 pm. A Funeral Mass will be held on Thursday, December 24th at 10 am at St. Joseph Church, 685 Hooper Ave. in Toms River. Cremation will be private. In Lieu of flowers please make donations to St. Judes Children's Research Hospital. https://www.stjude.org/give.html