Paul Lucey

Bangor and Oronp-Paul Alfred Lucey was born April 30, 1923 in Taunton, Massachusetts, son of John Francis and Rita Louise (Grandmont) Lucey.He passed away comfortably at age 93 on October 13th after a stroke.He attended Taunton High, earned a BA at Brown University and an MA at the University of San Francisco.After Pearl Harbor was attacked, he enlisted in the Navy Air Corps and received his wings at NAS Pensacola and a commission in the United States Marine Corps.He was a Corsair fighter pilot stationed on Okinawa when the war ended.Four years later his Reserve Squadron was called up to serve in the Korean War. While training in Southern California, he responded to the call to fly helicopters and served with the First Marine Division as a rescue pilot flying the wounded to the Medical Station.Upon discharge he flew for several months with the Coast and Geodetic Survey in Alaska. He remained in the Reserves and served as Commanding Officer of Marine Helicopter Squadron 769 in Alameda. He retired from the Corps in 1974 with the rank of Colonel.He married E. Patricia Synan in 1950. In 1952, he took his wife and daughter Gloria to start new lives in California, and his son Paul was later born in 1957. He was hired to teach at Lowell High School in San Francisco and served as teacher and assistant principal for 30 years. Upon retirement, he became the first executive director/historian/archivist/newsletter editor of the Lowell Alumni Association,a voluntary position he held for 24 more years.In 1989 the LAA published his History of the Oldest Public High School in California, covering the sweep of Lowell's history from its pre-Civil War days (1856) to the Computer Age of the Eighties.Paul enjoyed 34 years of golfing with good buddies at the Presidio Golf Club.After some health scares, he and Patricia, then suffering from Alzheimers disease, to Maine to live with daughter Gloria in Old Town in 2008.He immediately became active in the Bangor Community, delivering Meals on Wheels, joining the Korean War Veterans Association, the Marine Corps League, the Military Order of the Devil Dogs and the Orono-Old Town Kiwanis. He volunteered at the Cole Transportation Museum and the Maine Troop Greeters.He took classes with Senior College and joined a writing group at the Orono Library.He loved baseball, was a prolific writer and had a lifetime of joy telling his stories to friends and family alike. Predeceased by his wife Patricia of 59 years as well as siblings, Veronica, John, Leo and Gloria. Paul is survived by his two children, Gloria L. Vollmers of Bangor and Paul G. Lucey of Hawaii, and three grandchildren Julia E., Ellen M. and Jasmine. He is also survived by his sister Joanne. Colonel Lucey will be interred in the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.