Politics

LIGHTNING EDITORIAL: We'll miss Fielding Lucas

Fielding Lucas salutes during a Republican Party convention in 2013.

By Bill Moss, Published: January 9, 2015

When he retired to Hendersonville in 1993 at age 70, Fielding Lucas could have lived the leisurely life. People that follow news and politics in town know that he did not.

When Lucas died at age 92 two days after Christmas, our community lost an active participant, the budget drafters lost a fierce ankle biter and the Republican Party lost a loyal soldier. Or sailor, as the case may be.
Born Oct. 18, 1922, Fielding Gallatin "Luke" Lucas joined the Navy in 1939. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, he served on active duty from 1939 until 1955 and in the Navy Reserves until 1981. He served in both World War II and Korea, earning two combat stars in the latter war for his service aboard the USS Mansfield. In retirement "he became a pillar of our community, regularly attending Board meetings and promoting civic responsibility," the Board of Commissioners said in a resolution honoring him. Serving on the boards of Blue Ridge Community College and Pardee Hospital, Lucas "advocated for fiscal responsibility and responsible governance."
Lacking the Gen. Patton bearing of Vince Colan and the abrasiveness of Bryan Aleksich — two compatriots in a brotherhood of retired military officers who also happened to be conservative Republicans — Lucas was the jolly fighter for fiscal rectitude. He pored over Pardee budgets like Ebenezer Scrooge on Christmas Eve. Yet he was never Scrooge-like. An American first, a conservative next, an accountant after that and finally a Republican. On the BRCC and Pardee boards, he was a constructive if pesky contributor. He was allergic to the ink of a rubberstamp.
All Lucas did was "ask a logical question and try to seek answers," his friend Grady Hawkins observed. "He was an affable guy. I really had a lot of respect for him."
A founding member of both the Eagles — retired military officers — and the Roundtable — aka the Grumpy Old Men —the old soldier will be missed. We have plenty of people who ask no questions and too many who merely make noise with no constructive suggestions. Fielding Lucas was not one of those. He saw things he thought needed fixing and usually with smile set about to make repairs.