Father John Paul Lucas, 85, of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of St. Nicholas died Feb. 4.

Born in Cleveland, Father Lucas attended Ohio State University, the Byzantine Catholic Seminary of Sts. Cyril and Methodius and Notre Dame de Namur University. During his time in the seminary, he regularly wrote articles for the Byzantine Catholic World.

He was ordained to the priesthood in 1966 and incardinated into the St. Nicholas Eparchy, based in Chicago, in 1985. Father Lucas served parishes in Sacramento, San Francisco and Santa Clara, California, before coming to Chicago to serve at St. Michael Parish in the West Pullman neighborhood.

In 2002, Father John was appointed English-language editor of the eparchial newspaper New Star, and in 2007 he became its managing editor.

He is survived by his brother, Donald.