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| Affiliation | National Unity |
|
| Name | Jean Vlasis Lucey |
| Address |
, Wisconsin , United States |
| Email | None |
| Website | None |
| Born |
March 29, 1918 |
| Died |
December 07, 2011
(93 years) |
| Contributor | Thomas Walker |
| Last Modifed | Juan Croniqueur
Jun 03, 2023 03:55am |
| Tags |
Greek -
|
| Info | Jean Vlasis Lucey was very active in her husband's governorship (1971-1977), speaking out on issues more often than first ladies before her. The couple met while Vlasis was a political secretary in Milwuakee. During her husband's term, Jean Lucey studied American Literature and Journalism at the UW.
Jean Lucey did not fit neatly into her generation's version of a political wife.
She was involved in Democratic Party politics, including the resurgence of the party in the 1950s. She helped her politician husband, Patrick Lucey, build the Madison real estate firm that became part of Wauwatosa Realty, now Shorewest.
And when her husband became governor, she remained outspoken - more than some wanted and still less than she would have liked.
"I'm a third-class citizen," she complained in a 1977 interview. "They want a governor's wife to sit around and have teas. Well, I don't like tea parties. I'm not a tea party dame."
Lucey died of natural causes Wednesday at the Milwaukee Catholic Home. She was 93. Lucey was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease a few years ago. More recently, she suffered a stroke.
"As she descended into Alzheimer's, she lost the ability to read and write," said son David Lucey. "She retained the ability to write in shorthand, and she and her caregiver would exchange notes in shorthand."
Often described as a fiery Greek, Lucey inspired all sorts of adjectives. She could be explosive or candid, tough or knowledgeable, efficient or flamboyant.
At one Democratic state convention, people good-naturedly wore badges that said "IBCASOBBJL." It stood for "I've been called an S.O.B. by Jean Lucey."
She was the sixth of nine children born to immigrants from Greece, growing up in Milwaukee's Greek community on the east side. The American version of her birth name was Agnes Vlasis, but she was known as Jean.
"The first language in their household was Greek, and she attended Greek school, too," David said.
She graduated from Lincoln High School, and served as a WAVE during World War II in Washington, D.C. One thing led to another and she was asked to work on a congressman's campaign. She also attended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
"My first job after high school was in a chocolate factory in Milwaukee," Lucey said. "And I've done piece work. I know what it's like to sew 1,000 pockets in a dress in eight hours. And I worked at Gimbels selling dishes, so I know what it's like standing for eight hours a day."
In 1949, she met Patrick Lucey, who had won a major upset against the incumbent Republican speaker of the state Assembly the year before. Both had attended a meeting on the future of the Democratic Party in the state.
"We were trying to build a Democratic Party with Bill Proxmire, Gaylord Nelson, Henry Maier, Henry Reuss, so many others . . . and we were all on limited budgets, meeting at each other's homes," she said, speaking in a 1980 feature story.
In 1951, she married Pat Lucey at Gesu Catholic Church in Milwaukee. They became a team, touring the state in the interest of party unity and development.
Even after they became parents, she craved the action and energy of politics. Baby Paul came to campaign headquarters, where his mother stuffed envelopes, trying to help Thomas Fairchild defeat Sen. Joseph McCarthy.
Her husband became state party chairman in 1957. She helped him build the Lucey Realty Service, first based at home, into one of Madison's largest real estate firms.
When her husband took over the governor's office in 1971, she did not shy away from the spotlight. When protesters barricaded a gate at the governor's mansion - they wanted a line-item veto related to welfare in the state budget bill - the governor's wife ended up in a shouting match. "Why don't you go get a job?" she declared.
Lucey thrived in Mexico
As governor, Patrick Lucey spoke of not wanting an inner circle that would tell him only what he wanted to hear.
That was already the case at home.
"Certainly, if there was any possibility that I would develop the kind of ego that makes it difficult to make day-to-day decisions in the context of the real world, I can't think of anybody that would do a better job of deflating one's ego than my wife does on a daily basis," he said, laughing.
When her husband became ambassador to Mexico under President Jimmy Carter, Lucey thrived.
"She studied Spanish in Mexico and became quite proficient," David said. "She enjoyed traveling in Mexico and collecting peasant art and getting to know people in Mexico."
Lucey found herself a candidate's wife again in 1980, when her husband ran for vice president during independent John Anderson's presidential campaign.
Her politics began to change later in life.
"She became quite conservative in her older years - she ended up kind of a Ronald Reagan Democrat," her son said. "I think she would consider herself an independent. My dad would joke that it didn't really matter how he voted for president, because her vote would cancel it out."
The Luceys moved to Mequon, wanting to live closer to family. By the mid-1990s, they built a new home in River Hills, a near replica of their house in the Madison area.
In 2007, they moved to the Milwaukee Catholic Home.
"I guess I was ahead of my time, a free spirit, and I guess reporters didn't expect that," she once said. "I never thought I had to fit a certain mold."
Survivors include her husband; daughter Laurel; sons Paul and David; sisters Georgia Schneider and Sophia Zacharias; and grandchildren.
Visitation will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday at the Feerick Funeral Home, 2025 E. Capitol Drive, Shorewood. A private service is planned.
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