Robert W. Lucas, '36

Robert W. Lucas, a Salem native and distinguished journalist for 40 years, died Aug. 18 in a Tualatin hospital. He was 85.

Lucas' illustrious career found him working as the managing editor of The Denver Post, editor of The Hartford Times, and Washington, DC bureau chief and White House beat writer for the Gannett newspapers. Lucas, who moved to Tigard in 1994, edited readers' letters for Abigail Van Buren's "Dear Abby" column for 30 years and served as a Pulitzer Prize judge on three occasions.

Lucas was a forward on the 1932-33 Oregon State Beavers basketball team that won the school's first Pacific Coast Conference (now Pac-10) championship. He transferred to the University of Oregon to pursue his interest in journalism and served as the editor of the Oregon Daily Emerald.

His first newspaper jobs included writing for the Oregon Journal in Portland and the Astoria Budget, now The Daily Astorian, where he rose to associate editor. He married Margaret "Peggy" Chessman of Astoria on Oct. 21, 1936.

Lucas assumed the position of editor of The Yakima Morning Herald in 1945. The editorials he wrote for both the Herald and the Yakima Daily Republic (owned by the same company) attracted the attention of E. Palmer Hoyt, publisher of The Oregonian. When Hoyt moved on the Denver to be publisher of The Denver Post, Lucas followed him in 1951. Lucas took over as editor of the Post's editorial page and in 1958 became managing editor. He held the position for two years before joining Gannett as editor of the now defunct Hartford Times.

In 1974, Lucas retired -- in a manner of speaking. He continued to write editorials for Oregon publications.

"He'd fill in for Bob Chandler at The (Bend) Bulletin," Peggy Lucas told The Oregonian, "at The Register-Guard and an occasional one for The Oregonian. He just wouldn't give that up."

Mr. Lucas is survived by his wife; sons, Thomas G. and Robert C., both of Portland; four grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

The family suggests remembrances to the Alzheimer's Association or the Aging and Alzheimer's Disease Center at Oregon Health Sciences University.

Maximo Pulido, '33

Maximo Pulido died at age 91 in Sanchez Mira, Cagayan on Nov. 24, 1991. A journalism graduate of the University of Oregon, Pulido returned to the Philippines and married his wife, Milagrn, a graduate of the University of the Philippines. The two founded the Rural Bank of Sanchez Mira, Inc. in Pulido's hometown.

"(Sanchez Mira) was a very backward place when we first came over but thank God it is thriving now, and many attribute the success to the efforts of Max to provide capital to start business here," Milagrn Pulido wrote to Flash.