Home County: Scott
Term of Service at the Supreme Court of Missouri: September 1938 – December 1938
Judge Raymond B. Lucas was born July 26, 1890, in Sumner, Illinois. At a young age, he and his moved to Scott County, Missouri, where he was raised. Lucas attended the University of Missouri, from which he received a bachelor of arts (A.B.) degree in 1913. Two years later, he received his law degree from The University of Chicago Law School.
By the fall of 1915, Lucas was practicing law in Benton, Missouri, and had formed the law partnership of Dudley & Lucas. In 1928, he became one of the first members and secretary of the Scott County Bar Association. Throughout his legal career, Lucas worked as an attorney for the Homeowners’ Loan Corporation, the Bureau of Biological Survey, and the State Highway Department. He also was the chairman of the Missouri State Bar committee for expedition of trials and appeals.
On September 14, 1938, then-Governor Lloyd Stark appointed Lucas to the Supreme Court of Missouri after the sudden death of Judge William F. Frank. Lucas was sworn in by then-Chief Justice Ernest Moss Tipton, with whom he had attended the University of Missouri. Lucas filled the remainder of Frank’s unexpired term, concluding December 31, 1938. Lucas then was appointed as the superintendent of the Missouri Insurance Department, serving from January 1939 until July 1941.
In the fall of 1941, after his service with the state, Lucas was named general counsel for the Kansas City Life Insurance Company. He also served with the company’s board of directors beginning in 1943. In 1959, Lucas moved to Phoenix, Arizona, but he continued to serve on the Kansas City Life Insurance Company’s board of directors until 1961. While residing in Arizona, he was named co-receiver of Arizona Savings and Loan Association.
Judge Raymond B. Lucas died March 21, 1966, in Phoenix. He was 75 years old.
Biographical information by Dylan Powers-Cody, 2024, Truman State University.
Sources used (a copy of each is on file at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library):
Associated Press, “K.C. Life Firm Names Ray Lucas General Counsel,” Springfield Daily News, (Springfield, Missouri), October 3, 1941, SHSMO Digital Newspaper Project, information courtesy of the State Historical Society of Missouri website, accessed February 15, 2024.
“Atty. R. B. Lucas Gets Appointment as Supreme Judge,” The Weekly Record, (New Madrid, Missouri), September 16, 1938, SHSMO Digital Newspaper Project, information courtesy of the State Historical Society of Missouri website, accessed February 15, 2024.
“D.W. Gilmore On Board of K.C. Life Insurance Co.,” Enterprise-Courier, (Charleston, Missouri), January 25, 1962, SHSMO Digital Newspaper Project, information courtesy of the State Historical Society of Missouri website, accessed February 15, 2024.
Dwight H. Brown, compiler, Dwight H. Brown Secretary of State, State of Missouri, Official Manual, For Years Nineteen Thirty-seven and Nineteen Thirty-eight, (Jefferson City, MO: Midland Printing Co., 1938), 125.
“Former Justice Aids Loan Firm,” St. Joseph Gazette, (St. Joseph, Missouri), July 31, 1959, SHSMO Digital Newspaper Project, information courtesy of the State Historical Society of Missouri website, accessed February 15, 2024.
H. H. Kinyon, Alumni Secretary, “Alumni Directory, 1843-1917,” The University of Missouri Bulletin, vol. 18, no. 33, General Series 1917, no. 14, (Columbia, MO: The University of Missouri Press, December 1917), 2, 52 and 128, available from Google Books, accessed February 15, 2024.
John Turner White, reporter, Reports of Cases Determined by the Supreme Court of the State of Missouri, Between December 17, 1937 and September 17, 1938, vol. 342, (Columbia, MO: E. W. Stephens Publishing Co., 1939), iii.
“Judge William Frank Dies: Judge Raymond B. Lucas Appointed by Governor to Fill Vacancy on Supreme Court,” The Butler Times-Press (Butler, Missouri), September 15, 1938, SHSMO Digital Newspaper Project, information courtesy of the State Historical Society of Missouri website, accessed on February 15, 2024.
“Lucas Insurance Superintendent,” California Democrat, (California, Missouri), January 12, 1939, SHSMO Digital Newspaper Project, information courtesy of the State Historical Society of Missouri website, accessed February 15, 2024.
“Ray B. Lucas Elected to Board of Directors,” The Missouri Cash-Book, (Jackson, Missouri), October 28, 1943, SHSMO Digital Newspaper Project, information courtesy of the State Historical Society of Missouri website, accessed February 15, 2024.
“Raymond B. Lucas,” Arizona, U.S. Death Records, 1887-1968 Database, certificate number 3035, information courtesy of the Ancestry.com website, accessed February 27, 2024.
“Raymond B. Lucas,” U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, information courtesy of the Ancestry.com website, accessed February 27, 2024.
“Risk Post Goes to K.C. Lawyer,” St. Joseph Gazette, (St. Joseph, Missouri), September 12, 1941, SHSMO Digital Newspaper Project, information courtesy of the State Historical Society of Missouri website, accessed February 15, 2024.
“Scott County Lawyers Organize,” The Weekly Record, (New Madrid, Missouri), November 23, 1928, SHSMO Digital Newspaper Project, information courtesy of the State Historical Society of Missouri website, accessed February 15, 2024.
“Stark Appoints Benton Lawyer to High Court,” Jefferson City Post-Tribune, (Jefferson City, Missouri), September 14, 1938, SHSMO Digital Newspaper Project, information courtesy of the State Historical Society of Missouri website, accessed February 15, 2024.
The Alumni Council, compiler, Alumni Directory, The University of Chicago, 1919, (Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 1920), 212, information courtesy of Google Books, accessed February 15, 2024.
“The Law School Alumni Association,” The University of Chicago Magazine, November 1915, vol. viii, no. 1, (Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 1915), 33, information courtesy of Google Books, accessed February 15, 2024.