SAMUEL ROBERT LUKER & RICHARD JAMES LUKER
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Dick Luker (left) and Sam Luker (right) born 1 July 1932 in London, Ontario, Canada.
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| Dick Luker (left) & Sam Luker (right) |
Written by Judy Luker Massey with input and permission from her father Samuel Luker and uncle Richard Luker.
Gladys Sarah Hodgins (1894-1984) married Wilbert
Luker
(1884-1953) when she was 27 and he was 37. She was one of
Sarah Catherine Crawley (1857-1939) and husband Samuel Hill Hodgins’
(1846-1919) eleven children.
Gladys grew up on a farm in Lot 14, Concession
3, Biddulph Township near Lucan, Ontario, Canada. She attended Alma College in St. Thomas, Ontario before marrying. Wilbert
grew up Lot 5, North Boundary, Biddulph Township and was with the
Canadian Army Veterinary Corps during WW1.
After 10 years of marriage, Gladys and Wilbert had fraternal twin boys named after their
grandfathers (Samuel Hodgins, and Richard Luker) and a great-grandfather (Robert Luker). Samuel Robert Luker and Richard James Luker
still debate over which twin is the older.
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| London Normal School, a teacher's college at 165 Elmwood Avenue East in London, Ontario. Photo by Adam Bishop. |
After graduating, Sam & Dick taught all eight grades in 1 or
2 room schools very close to each other in Essex County (Sam at Elmstead
PS) and Dick at Maidstone PS.)
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| Dick Luker |
At Teacher’s College, Dick met and fell in
love with
Gertrude ANNE Taylor from Windsor. Anne and Dick married, made
their home in Windsor, and had 2 children Leslie and Tim.
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| Anne Taylor & Dick Luker's wedding day. |
After 2 years
of teaching, Dick switched professions and became a banker in Detroit.
He worked for First Federal Savings in Detroit where he became a Vice
President. Sam is quoted as saying, “
Dick made all the money but I had
all the fun.”
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| Dick Luker |
Dick was known far and wide for his interest and knowledge
of Dixieland Jazz. He often would lend records to the Detroit radio
station and wrote for several jazz magazines.
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| Anne & Dick Luker with their son Tim Luker (centre) |
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| Anne & Dick's daughter, Leslie (Luker) Agnew & her son, Robbie. |
Sam and Dick’s father died of a heart attack when they were 21 and left their mother Gladys a widow for 31 years.
After teaching a year in Windsor and a year at Lucan Public School (1953/1954), Sam
went on to attend the University of Western Ontario (UWO). He majored in
English and Philosophy, then Psychology. In his fourth year he was
awarded the gold medal. He continued on in Psychology and obtained his
Master’s Degree with the future goal of becoming a Clinical
Psychologist.
While an undergraduate, Sam met a young nurse named
Melva Moreen Murphy
from Midland, Ontario and they soon married.
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Melva Murphy & Sam Luker were married on 10 September 1955 in Midland, Ontario at St. Mark's Anglican Church (known today as St. Mark's Anglican Lutheran Church.)
St. Mark's is located the corner of Third and Easy Street.
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| Sam & Melva outside the church. |
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| The happy couple: Melva & Sam. |
After graduation, Sam and Melva moved to Port
Arthur, Ontario (now Thunder Bay) where he was Chief Psychologist for the Board
of Education.
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| Sam's graduation from UWO in 1958 with Honours BA. He was the gold medal winner. Pictured here with his mother, Gladys (Hodgins) Luker and his daughter, Judy. |
Wanting to get closer to their families after 2 years in
the North, Sam and Melva moved to Don Mills (now part of Toronto) where Sam was a School
Psychologist with the York Board of Education. Sam and Melva then made
their final move to Guelph, Ontario where they raised their two daughters, Judy
and Jana.
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| Melva & Sam Luker with their daughter, Judy Luker Massey. |
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| Melva & Sam's daughter, Jana Lee Luker. |
In Guelph, Sam was Chief Psychologist for the Wellington
County Board of Education. After eleven years with the Wellington Board,
Sam moved to the University of Guelph, first as a Professor of Family
Studies and then as Chairman of Part-Time and General Studies. He took
early retirement from the University of Guelph in 1987 and worked in
private practice for several years.
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| Sam & Melva |
Sam and Melva have travelled extensively before and after Sam’s
retirement and they aren’t finished yet. They have been to 87 counties
on all 7 continents. Their latest trip was to their great nephew’s
wedding on Vancouver Island. They currently live with their daughter
Judy and son-in-law Dave in Muskoka in Central Ontario.
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| Sam & Melva enjoying life in Muskoka. |
Sam has done testing with AncestryDNA, Family TreeDNA, LivingDNA, and
23&meDNA, and Dick with AncestryDNA and Family TreeDNA. They are also
on GEDmatch: Sam-A880628 and Dick-A338719.
Both Sam and Dick are very proud of their Irish Heritage.🇨🇮
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| Dick & Sam's 10-day Arctic adventure! |
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| Sam Luker (left) & Dick Luker (right) |
SAM & DICK LUKER'S FAMILY TREE:
Ancestors:
John Culbert & Mary Ward (great-great-grandparents)
Susan Culbert & Philip Crawley (great-grandparents)
Sarah Catherine Crawley & Samuel Hill Hodgins (grandparents)
Gladys Sarah Hodgins & Wilbert Luker (parents)
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