1924 - 2001 |
Richard Edgar Lugo was born in Santa Barbara on
January 13, 1924. He married his wife Virginia Leah Marcum, a native
of Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1946. The Lugos have three children, Mark,
Craig, and Denise.
During World War II, Mr. Lugo was assigned to the Amphibious Forces of the Navy. He served on LCIR 31, a rocket gunboat, and on LSM 345. He was a Chief Motor Machinist and spent over 28 months in the Pacific Theater, including the occupational invasion of Japan. His decorations include World War II Victory, American Area, Asiatic Pacific Area with 3 bronze stars, and Navy Good Conduct. Richard retired from the Navy as a Chief Petty Officer after 33 years of service. Mr. Lugo was an instructor at the U.S. Naval School, Construction Battalion Center at Port Hueneme, California. He taught adult education in diesel at Ventura College. He served as a GS-12 at the Naval Missile Center at Point Mugu. Richard also owned and operated Custom Electronics in Santa Barbara and serviced television sets and other display systems. |
Richard devoted himself to his family and to his
community. He was active in scouting for 15 years. He served
on the Board of Directors of the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation
and was named a Life Honorary Trustee. He was Chairman of the Trust’s
Descendants and Genealogy Committee. He was president of Los Descendientes.
Richard was a founding member of Los Soldados and was appointed
Sargento
Distinguido (Distinguished Sergeant). He excelled as a musician
and formed the Orquesta Quinta, which played early California Music.
Richard’s roots extended to the Alanis, Arellanes, Buelna, Carrillo, Cordero, Cota, Domínguez, Espinosa, Féliz, Fernández, Flores, Germán, Hernández, Higuera, Hurtado, Landera, Limón, Lugo, López, Martínez, Merlopes, Miranda, Ortega, Parra, Quintero, Robles, Rodríguez, Romero, Ruiz, Sanchez, Soto, Tapia, and Valenzuela founding families of Santa Barbara.1 |
Richard Lugo was an extremely talented man, but above all he was a fine generous human being, loved by his family, friends, and parientes. |
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“I am an American first; my heritage is second. If everyone believed that, this country would be in good shape.” |
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Richard passed away on August 23, 2001
at the age of 77. A memorial service was held for him at the Presidio of Santa Barbara
(Click on the thumbnails to see the pictures from the service at the original resolution) |
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