Barbara Lucas Obituary

Barbara Louis McDonald - The second of four children of Anne and Jesse McDonald. Born October 18, 1934. She loved her siblings: Betty, Beverly, and Sonny. They grew up in Cleveland Ohio. With two hard working parents. Anne worked as a nurse, while her father Jesse worked on the railroad. He was one of the first black men in the area to work on the railroad. Through Jesse's many business ventures, he was able to move his family out to Bedford, where he built them a house. Unfortunately he contracted cancer, and did not live to see the house built to completion.
Education was important to Barbara and her siblings. She graduated from John Adams high school in 1952, where she did everything from being a lab assistant, to intramurals, to the Spanish club. She then went onto college at Ohio State to study accounting. Which made sense, because she was always great with numbers. After graduation she worked downtown at the Federal Reserve bank. That's awesome!!! How many young black women do you think worked in that building back in those days? Guess she takes after her Dad, like that. My grandmother was a BADASS!!!
Anyways.. back to her story!
Barbara was FLY, and had plenty of suitors in her day. Eventually she met Daniel Wilson and later they got married. Hello Mrs. Barbara L Wilson. Together they had Dani-Lynn, and Victoria Wilson. She LOVED her girls.
Sadly she and Daniel later divorced. Barbara moved her girls, her Mother, and her nephew Bruce onto Newell Road in Shaker Hts. This was definitely a family house. A house of love. Bigma (Anne) lived on the first floor. Barbara and Dani-Lynn on the second floor. Victoria and Bruce on the third floor.
Some time later, Barbara took her FLY self roller skating, and met Albert Lucas. Now if my Dad tells the story, he and my Mom, Victoria, went roller skating, and Barbara went to pick Victoria up, and that's how Barbara met Albert. Either way there were roller skates and sparks involved.
They spent a lifetime together before getting married. So now, hello Mrs. Barbara L Lucas. They loved to travel, and wear matching outfits. Yep, they were that cute couple lol. Finishing each others sentences, all of that. Barbara loved his children, grandchildren, and great- grandchildren as her own.
Because she's always loved family.
Eventually Barbara develops both Parkinson's and Dementia. Even though it was hard on her, and all of us as her caregivers, she still stayed strong through it all. The dementia wasn't all bad. Through her journey, I learned more about her life and story than i had before the dementia. Looking at old photos became our favorite thing to do. She would tell stories through the pictures.
Throughout her life, Barbara experienced a lot of loss, unfortunately. The loss of her Father, her Aunts and Uncles, family members, the brutal killing of her daughter Dani-Lynn, then the loss of her beautiful Mother Anne. The loss of her great grand-daughter Paige, the loss of her brother Sonny, her sister Betty, the loss of her life partner, Albert, the loss of her daughter Victoria, then the loss of her beloved sister Beverly. But still, she stayed strong, and always found a reason to smile and laugh.
Her battle with Parkinson's and dementia, she WON every single day. She gave those ailments a run for their money. She tired THEM out. Towards the end, she spoke about her family a lot. She was ready to be with them, instead of being in a body that was failing her. After some time in hospice, she passed away peacefully in her sleep, surrounded by love. And even when she was in and out of consciousness, she found just enough strength to say "I love you" one last time. She was strong, and I will cherish that memory forever.
She is survived by her two grandchildren -Stefanie and Sean (love you little brother), along with his daughter Scarlet. In addition, the rest of the McDonald family: Bruce, Karen, Susan, and Christopher, along with their children. Gregory and Jeffrey and their children. And Dennis and Darnell and their children.
Love you always, Grandma, say hi to Mom and the rest of the family for all of us.
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