Hedwig Lucas, 101

Hedwig Lucas, who began vacationing in Montauk in 1960 and became a full-time resident in 1997, died on July 27 at her Ditch Plain residence. Known to her friends as Heddy, she was 101 years old.

Her only child, Joseph Lukas of Montauk, said the family used to come to the hamlet every summer. “They stayed at Deep Hollow Ranch for many, many years,” and also camped at Hither Hills State Park. His mother “loved to walk around the Lighthouse,” he said.

Born in Ridgewood, Queens, on Dec. 15, 1912, to Louis and Grace Russwurm, Mrs. Lukas was one of eight children. She grew up in Glendale, where she met her future husband, Joseph S. Lukas, at the bookbinding company where she worked. They were married in 1938, and lived at first in Glendale, then in East Meadow.

In 1974, the younger Mr. Lucas built a house on Hoppin Avenue. His father died in 1994, and three years later the son built a house for his mother on the lot next door to his, where she spent the rest of her long life. She was a member of St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic Church and of the Friends of the Montauk Library, as well as the Montauk chapter of AARP.

Homemaking skills were important to her, her son said. She enjoyed baking and crocheting, and was a great reader.

A memorial mass was held at St. Therese of Lisieux last Thursday, followed by burial at St. Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale.