By Jon King / jking@whmi.com


A Howell woman who was a member of the Greatest Generation has passed on.

Madeline L. Lucas died May 10th. She was 98. Born on a South Dakota farm in 1922, Lucas enlisted in the U.S. Army after graduating from nursing school in 1944. She went to serve as a First Lieutenant in military hospitals in England and France, including at the 240th General Hospital just outside of Paris. That’s where she met her future husband, Corporal William Lucas, a US Army medical technician.

After the war, they married and moved to Lincoln Park, Michigan, where they raised their seven children. Madeline continued to work as a registered nurse, first at the VA hospital and later as a nursing supervisor at Balmoral Nursing Home.

After retiring in 1992, the couple moved to Howell. Madeline was known for the beautiful quilts she made for her family and friends. She was also renowned for her love of cooking, hosting an annual 4th of July picnic and family Christmas party for dozens of people, something she did well into her 90s.

A devout Catholic, Madeline was remembered at a funeral Mass May 14th at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Howell.

Memorial contributions in Lucas’s memory are requested to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.