One of the pioneers of rugby football in Saint Lucia has died at the age of 85. British national John Eric Lucas, who worked to develop the sport on the island with which he fell in love in the seventies, was commemorated by his family, as well as members of the athletic community, after he passed away on November 1. His funeral service was held on November 28, at Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima in La Clery.
“John had always been a very outgoing and charismatic man,” read a biography prepared by his family. “Through his love of sports, he helped introduce and develop the sport of rugby on the island, which led him to pursue other socially beneficial initiatives through his work as vice president of the Saint Lucia Chamber of Commerce.”
“Yes, of course, I remember John Lucas,” said former national player, Michael Pierre. “He was in the rugby administration when I played, and he was also a top rugby official. He was my good partner, John. Unfortunately, I had not seen him in ages. He was one of those expats; he was into accountancy.”
President of the Saint Lucia Olympic Committee, Alfred Emmanuel, also recalled that Lucas worked closely with Canadian nationals like Millar Young, a teacher at the Castries Comprehensive Secondary School, to kick start the game in the mid-seventies.
“Surely he was one of the pioneers of the sport in Saint Lucia,” said Emmanuel. “When the Canadians came to support the Castries Comprehensive School programme, they were instrumental in getting the sport grounded. That is where John came in. He had already been a long-time resident on the island.
“He used his connections to get locals involved in the sport, and the rest is history.”
The Saint Lucia Rugby Club hosted teams from overseas and sometimes travelled to neighbouring territories where the sport was also taking root, like Barbados, Martinique, and Guadeloupe. Regrettably, the sport hit a lull in the late eighties, but Lucas would have been pleased to see its revival over the past two decades.
Lucas was born in Quorn, Leicestershire, England, on September 9, 1940. In his early twenties, his role as an accountant with the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) took him to Zambia, Barbados, and then Saint Lucia, where he was deployed as secretary accountant of the Saint Lucia Electricity Company, LUCELEC.
He was offered the opportunity to return to Africa upon expiration of his contract in Saint Lucia, but he had fallen in love with the people and culture of Saint Lucia. He ran out his contract with the CDC and sought employment locally, with Minvelle & Chastenet Limited.
His love of sport led him to strike up a kinship with Fred Devaux, managing director of M&C. Devaux, who died in February 2025, was remembered not just as a distinguished businessman, but as a staunch supporter of sports and the arts. Under his leadership, and with Lucas in tow, he helped finance the M&C Fine Arts Awards and the M&C Games, where many of the island’s top athletes cut their teeth in keen rivalries.
After a short time with the M&C Group of Companies, he was promoted to finance director, where he was valued and admired by his coworkers and staff for several years, until his retirement. Throughout his tenure, he was actively involved with many charitable causes, always giving to those in need, something he was loved for, and will always be remembered for.
In 1983, John fell in love with a beautiful young woman by the name of Rita Roberts, who would ultimately become his wife of over 40 years. In 1986, John and Rita welcomed their only son into the world. The elder Lucas doted endlessly on the light of his life, Christopher Eric Lucas, who, in turn, memorialised his father as “a kind and compassionate man, hardly ever without a smile on his face, and love for everyone he encountered in his heart. We were blessed to have had him in our lives.”
The Saint Lucia Rugby Football Union was represented at Lucas’ memorial, led by president Roger Butcher and former national player Lyndell Norville.