Services have been scheduled for John Edward “LJ” Lucas, a longtime Southeast fisherman.
A wake is planned on Feb. 15, which would have been his 69th birthday. Friends are invited to Pioneer Park around 1 p.m. to celebrate his life. Attendees are invited to take a dish and memories of LJ to share with friends.
LJ passed away Jan. 15 at Sitka Community Hospital, with his daughter holding his hand. He was being treated for cancer.
LJ was born Feb. 15, 1945, in New Iberia, La. He lived there only a short time, and spent a majority of his early years in Luling, Texas, on his grandfather’s farm, and in Petersburg, Alaska, with his mom.
He eventually made Alaska his home and began working as a logger and firefighter, before finding his eventual passion as a fisherman. LJ fished hard up and down the coast of Southeast Alaska, spending a majority of his time in Petersburg, Port Alexander, and Sitka.
LJ was known for his laugh, and his ability to make friends everywhere he went. He was a very generous man, sharing everything he had with anyone who needed it.
LJ most recently called ANB Harbor his home.
LJ was preceded in death by his mother, Cleora Flemming, who passed away in September. He is survived by his daughter, Shasta Smith, and her husband, Gary Smith, and two granddaughters, Tawny Coleen Smith and Eva Sophia Smith, all of Sitka. He has also left behind a countless number of good friends he called his “brothers.”