Adventurous WW II veteran hitchhiked across the country

Joseph L. Luciana Jr. had the soul of an adventurer and the heart of a lion.

Whether he was belting out Frank Sinatra, hitchhiking across the country or quietly studying Scripture, the 94-year-old knew how to live a full life.

And, Mr. Luciana had a peaceful end to his on Thursday, dying of heart failure in his favorite easy chair at his Oakmont home, surrounded by loved ones.

“He was there one minute and gone the next,” said his son, Joseph Luciana III, 64, of Oakmont.

Although his family will miss their beloved patriarch, there was little to be sad about during his funeral earlier this week.

“He had a long, full life,” his son said.

Indeed. His father was married for nearly 70 years to his soul mate, was a successful attorney and served his country during World War II.

The elder Mr. Luciana was the son of an Italian immigrant and grew up in Oakmont. The family tended a garden, made homemade wine and occasionally cooked meals over an open fire on the banks of Plum Creek, Joseph Luciana III said.

“My dad had a huge family,” he said. “I remember the stories he used to tell us that there wasn’t a lot of food during the Great Depression. They were basically Italian immigrants who didn’t have a whole lot of money.”

Mr. Luciana excelled at Oakmont High School, graduating in 1942. He headed to the University of Pittsburgh, but his plans changed as the war continued.

He enlisted in the Army Air Corps and became a pilot, flying missions in New Guinea from June 1944 to June 1945.

“My dad said his most harrowing adventure was flying along coast of the Philippines in very, very bad weather,” his son said. “You couldn’t see in front of you. He had to look down and watch the shoreline and he eventually made it to safety.”

Mr. Luciana was a first lieutenant in the Air Corps and served another year in the Reserve.

“He was promoted to captain in the Reserves, but he never got his captain’s bars,” his son said.

His father hadn’t realized he was promoted until years later, his son said. When some friends heard about the oversight, they arranged a special ceremony for Capt. Luciana to receive his bars at the Oakmont History Center on Veterans Day in 2016.

After the war, Mr. Luciana joined Thomas Hill, a high school buddy and fellow veteran, for the adventure of a lifetime — hitchhiking across America.

“One of my dad’s life ambitions was to travel when he came back from the war,” his son said. “He wanted to see the whole country.”

During the next few months, the two thumbed their way west, where they stopped and worked as ranch hands and at other odd jobs for a couple of weeks before picking up again. Eventually, they made their way down the California coast and back east.

“It was an adventure for him,” his son said. “He was young and unmarried.”

Mr. Hill, who died several years ago, served as best man at Mr. Luciana’s wedding and married his wife’s sister.

“He became my Uncle Tom,” William Luciana III said.

The brothers-in-law also started a group called the “Flight Crew” about 20 years ago, meeting for lunch with old friends from the war and other veterans.

Mr. Luciana resumed college at Pitt after his return and earned a bachelor’s degree in English in 1950, followed by a law degree a year later.

During his commute to college, he frequently ran into a former classmate, June Hulings, who was a freshman at Oakmont High School when he graduated.

Years earlier, he had called her a “fine freshman” in a yearbook signature.

“They started to date and six months later, they were married,” his son said.

The couple married in December 1949, and their three sons helped them celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary with an overnight family trip to the Omni William Penn Hotel, where the newlyweds spent their honeymoon.

Each of his sons became lawyers, following in the footsteps of Mr. Luciana, who worked most of his life as a lawyer for a title insurance company until his retirement in 1990.

He also maintained a private practice, working at times with son Richard Luciana, of Fox Chapel.

Christianity was also an important part of Mr. Luciana’s life, prompting him to seek a master of divinity degree from the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in May 1968.

“He became a Christian in the early ‘50s, and I think he was called to go to the seminary,” Joseph Luciana III said.

Mr. Luciana taught adult Sunday school and served as an interim pastor in Presbyterian and Baptist churches throughout the region.

One of his father’s favorite pastimes was relaxing in his backyard pool, said Joseph Luciana III, who said a recent get-together left him with memories he will never forget.

Family members, including Mr. Luciana’s two grandchildren, took a dip in the pool on a hot summer night.

“We were playing music on a speaker and asked dad what songs he wanted to play,” his son said. “He said, ‘How about some Frank Sinatra?’”

Mr. Luciana came to life, his son said, reciting every word of “New York, New York.”

“He was singing and dancing with his cane like he was Frank Sinatra himself,” he said. “We played it a couple of times so he could really enjoy it.”

Along with his wife, two grandchildren and two sons, Mr. Luciana is survived by son Jeffrey Luciana, of Oakmont. He was preceded in death by sisters Dorothy Slagle and Joanie Gorman.

Contributions in Mr. Luciana’s memory may be made to Allegheny Center Alliance Church, 250 East Ohio St., Pittsburgh 15212.