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Remembering Joe the Sculptor
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It has been nearly 10 months since we all started on this site. And I still wonder, at times, what is it supposed to be? Is this a place for news or notes? Is it fact or opinion? Can it be personal or a detached perspective?
Since my name's attached to it, I think I have to strike a balance of opinions, personal reflections and news if I can get it. And, of course, sports, since that's my Seattle Examiner domain.
The reason for all the introspection here is because I'm not sure where the story of Joe Lukas fits. It's a bit too personal and not an abundance of sports elements to it. But it is a story I need to share because of who he was and what he meant to so many people on the Seattle east side. Joe Lukas died Monday after a year-long bout with cancer. He was 42. He left behind a beautiful wife, Debby, who is due to give birth to a pair of 'Lucas Boys' next spring. Joe and Debby had a loving relationship and a thriving personal trainer business in Redmond, Wa.
It's painful and it's unfair but, taking a cue from Debby, as resilient a woman as I've ever known, she would want to reflect on his good life, not on this sad ending.
As far as sports is concerned, Joe did have an impact. Beyond helping so many young athletes in the area to build strength and endurance for their soccer, football, baseball, basketball teams, he trained shortstop Omar Vizquel for years, focusing on keeping his legs strong. I've talked to Omar about Joe. He credits him with helping to extend his 20-year baseball career. Omar, now 41 with at least one more season in him, will be in Baseball's Hall of Fame one day.
Jeff Nelson, the former Mariners and Yankees reliever, also joined Joe's workout studio, Sculptor Fitness, which Joe and Debby built three years ago next to their home off Redmond-Fall City Rd. After a few months working with Joe's trainers, Nelson told me that felt in tremendous shape and, in all seriousness, considered making a comeback at age 41. It's not going to happen but that's the kind of reaction you get from his workouts.
Joe, an imposing 6-foot-4, 230-pound gentle giant, learned the fitness trade in the U.S. Army. He was his battalion's Master Fitness Trainer. He served in the first Gulf War and spent a lot of time in Germany. In Germany, he learned the finer points of weight training, nutrition and fitness as well as the family-friendly atmosphere of their training studios.
He opened his first studio in Sammamish, Wa., in 1995 with the dream of moving his entire business to a facility behind his house. He achieved that in 2005. My daughter pushed me to join in the spring of 2006 because she saw me wasting away behind a computer and a fork. Joe was my trainer and was encouraging yet tough, informative and innovative, incorporating boxing moves, yoga and pilates, as well as detailed nutrition plans.
It took me a couple months of resistance before I really began to like it and appreciate it. I've been going regularly ever since, as have so many others, and I'm far better off because of it. As Debby once told me, a comprehensive fitness program "is the fountain of youth.''
That was Joe's philosophy and he had a multitude of loyal believers. It is ironic that he helped so many to greater health and fitness yet this strong, physical specimen has been taken away from us in his prime.
He had a simple life, ordinary Joe living the American dream. He had served his country well. He ran a successful small business. He had a effervescent wife who shared his career and his dreams. They both were overjoyed with anticipation over the arrival of their twin boys. Joe saw their forms on Debby's ultrasound images.
It's a shame that those two boys now who will never experience what a wonderful guy their father was. But they'll have Joe's genes. That's to their great advantage.
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