ALUMNI

"High achievers all" may be the best way to describe Dr. Patricia Lucas (right), her husband, Laval Perry, and their five children: (left to right) Patrick, Laval, Victoria, Evelyn, and Crystal. "My parents were strict, wanted us to go to college, earn a degree, and become professionals," Lucas said.

"She comes from a family that has 'success' written all over it," said Dr. Lee Jones as he talked about a School of Dentistry student he remembers very well - Dr. Patricia Lucas.

His comment is no exaggeration. Consider the following:

• Lucas has been practicing dentistry in Detroit for 28 years.
• Her sister, Stephenie Lucas-Oney, is a physician in Detroit.
• Her brother, William R. Lucas, is an ophthalmologist in Detroit.
• Another brother, Richard Lucas, is an investigator for the Detroit Police Department.
• Her 79-year-old father, William, was Wayne County Sheriff, the first Wayne County Executive, and is currently a visiting judge in Wayne County Circuit Court.
• Her 79-year-old mother, Evelyn, recently earned a degree with high honors from Wayne County Community College in gerontology.

"Success" and "achievement" are also in the DNA of the Lucas-Perry family:

• Daughter Evelyn is now a second-year dental student at U-M.
• Daughter Victoria is a first-year U-M dental student and Dental Scholar who received a women's basketball scholarship to attend Michigan State University.
• Daughter Crystal, a sophomore, earned a theater scholarship at Western Michigan University.
• Arizona who earned a scholarship to play basketball for Lute Olson and was "All State" in the sport as a junior and senior at Flint Powers High School.
• Son Patrick, now a high school freshman in Grand Blanc, was a straight-A student in grade school who played ice hockey, football, basketball, and now runs track.
• Husband Laval Perry, who played basketball for Dick Vitale when he was at the University of Detroit and graduated with an engineering degree, is a retired auto dealer who owns and operates real estate companies in Michigan and Florida.

Parents Very Influential

"My parents were strict, wanted us to go to college, earn a degree, and become professionals," Lucas said. "They firmly believed and told us often that hard work and a good education were the keys to success that would allow you to control your own destiny instead of working for someone else," she added.

"Hearing that when you're growing up, you realize as you get older that there is truth in their advice, so it's only natural when you become a parent that you, in turn, pass those words of wisdom on to your children as well," she said.

Growing up in Detroit, Lucas wasn't sure what kind of professional she wanted to become. Looking at others in her family, she already had several options to consider.

"Dad was an attorney when I was younger and suggested I consider a profession where I could get satisfaction in helping others while also being my own boss," she said.

For two summers, following her senior year in high school and freshman year at Wayne State University in Detroit, Lucas worked summers at Hutzel Women's Hospital. Medicine, however, didn't seem to fit her personality or interests.

Her sister, Stephenie, offered a suggestion that, in retrospect, was prophetic.

"Stephenie seemed to know early in life what she wanted to do, that is, become a physician, and she suggested I consider working in a dental office," Lucas said.

She took the advice to heart and worked part time for Dr. Fred Cuthrell and Dr. Robert Cline.

Lucas was an early admissions student who caught the attention of Dr. Lee Jones (DDS 1961), a member of the U-M School of Dentistry's faculty as an adjunct lecturer and director of the Office of Minority Affairs for 25 years.

Anonymity Didn't Work

"I thought she had a lot of potential and contacted her to see if she would be interested in coming to the School of Dentistry," he said. "It turned out to be a good fit for her and for Michigan."

Reflecting on her four years in the predoctoral program at U-M, Lucas said "I tried to make it through dental school as anonymously as possible. But I was tall, a black female, and left-handed, so that didn't work," she said with a laugh.

Lucas gave much of the credit for her success in the dental program to Jones.

"He was always in my corner, offering encouragement when I needed it and always prodding me to do my best," she said.

"Dr. Jones was a safety net, not just for me, but for other minority dental students, since there were about ten percent of us in a class of about two hundred. So having someone who understood what you were going through, who could relate to you, and be a liaison for you with staff or faculty members was something I will always be grateful for," she added.

Lucas' first job after receiving her dental degree in 1981 was as an associate in a Detroit dental practice.

Building a Practice

About two years later, she opened her own office in a medical building she shared with several others. "Space was tight," she said. "I remember bringing my files to work in a small crate because we were so crowded."

Building the practice from the ground up was, as she described it, "hard work, but natural. I remember handing out a lot of business cards regardless of where I was," Lucas said. "I never thought of it as 'networking,' to use today's popular word. I just did what came natural to me, meeting people, introducing myself, telling them a little about me, and most important, taking an interest in them."

For the last 26 years, Lucas has practiced general dentistry in the Harper Professional Building on John R in Detroit with her siblings, Dr. Stephenie Lucas-Oney and Dr. William Lucas.

The staff she began working with remains with her today. Many of her patients, who she treated when they were children, now bring their children to her to receive oral health care.

"I suppose I could have a bigger practice, but I enjoy the relationships I have with my staff and my patients, and I don't ever want to lose that 'patient-friendly' atmosphere we have," she said.

Asked if she encouraged her daughters Evelyn and Victoria to become dentists, Lucas said she "encouraged them to consider all their options."

Two Daughters at U-M Dental School

They did, working not only for her, but also for her husband when he ran his automobile dealership, learning valuable lessons from both mother and father.

"Evelyn is a creative and talented young woman, and dentistry seems to be a natural for her," Lucas said. "Victoria, who earned a degree in finance and worked with my husband at his dealership, is very analytical and talks about opening dental facilities."

When asked if she would pass along her dental practice to one or both daughters when she retires, Lucas said she wants them "to have other professional experiences. But nothing will be given to them, they will have to buy me out," she said with a smile in her voice.

As proud as she is of her two daughters studying dentistry at Michigan, Lucas also takes pride in the achievements of her other daughter, Crystal, and two sons, Laval and Patrick.

"Every one of them, without exception, is intelligent, wholesome, decent, and inspiring in their own right. That is what matters most to me," she said.

Lucas attributes the successes her five children have achieved to her husband, Laval. "He's had a major influence on their growth and development and so much of what our children have achieved and become in life is because of Laval," she said.

"But I think it really gets back to my parents and their influence on us when we were growing up. They were trailblazers who set the bar high for all of us."

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Evelyn Lucas-Perry, D2

"I have so much respect for my mother - what she does and the person she is. I admire her tremendously for the way she helps her patients and the way she works with her staff," said Evelyn Lucas-Perry. "When she talks to people, she has an uncanny ability to make them the center of attention and make them feel important. I aspire to be the person she is."

Evelyn said her mother "never pushed me to enter dentistry. Rather, she encouraged me to consider a profession where I could make a difference in people's lives. She once told me, 'You have the compassion, you have the empathy, you can do it,' which is something I still remember."

Evelyn said she also remembers the encouragement she received from her father, Laval, and his "bedtime stories."

"These stories, though, were about his work and his job," she said with a laugh. "We loved hearing them when we were young because they gave us insights about what we could do when we were older."

She also remembers some important advice she received. "Dad always told us, 'You can't stay complacent in life, you have to keep learning new things and reinventing yourself'," she said.

Although currently unsure what she would like to do after earning her dental degree, Evelyn said eventually she would like to practice somewhere in the Detroit area

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Victoria Lucas-Perry, D1

"My mother is my best friend and my role model, and she's such a well-rounded individual to have raised five kids and run her own business. She's phenomenal," said Victoria Lucas-Perry.

Like her sister, Evelyn, Victoria said her mother never pushed her to study dentistry.

"I wanted to be an entrepreneur and run a business like my father, but then Evelyn told me about the Pipeline program at the School of Dentistry and encouraged me to give it a try," she said. "When I saw dentistry had a business angle to it, I decided between my sophomore and junior year of college to study dentistry."

Her mother offered encouragement.

"She told me that dentistry is something I could always do, that it was a profession and not a job, and that I could be my own boss. That appealed to me."

Victoria, who attended Michigan State University on a women's basketball scholarship, said she's noticed at least one similarity between basketball and her first few weeks of dental studies.

"In both instances, I was exhausted," she said with a smile. "In basketball, it's because of the physical strain; in the case of dental studies, it's the mental strain. But, like basketball, that goes with the territory and you make adjustments if you want to succeed."

As one of 14 new Dental Scholars, Victoria said she enjoys being a part of that program. "I've learned that if you want to lead that there are times when you will have to follow, you just can't always give orders. I think what I learn in the Dental Scholars program will help me here and after I graduate."