I need help figuring out the family of a man named Arthur Albert Lucas (he went by "Art"). He was born in either Oct 1931 or Feb 1932 (there are literally 2 birthdates listed for the same guy) and he died in Los Angeles in August 1960. He was a friend of my late uncle (who also died in 1960) and is buried in our family plot in Charlottesville, VA. Art died a month and a half after my uncle. My mother and grandparents were told that Art didn't have any family so Grandpa had his remains shipped to VA.
This guy is a mystery. I have the coroner's report from when he passed and the paperwork from when his remains were shipped from LA to Charlottesville. I have done all the normal, in-depth research and more. He apparently settled in LA around 1954 and may have been in the service (Korean War) before then (my Uncle was in Korea during the war and it's likely they met while serving. Instead of returning to VA after the war, my Uncle settled in LA). Unfortunately, a huge percentage of the service records for this war were burned in the 1972 fire. I've contacted multiple Lucas family members from all over the world, looked at census and birth records until I'm blue in the face, contacted the mortuary that processed his remains and have tried tracking down the family of Art's attorney (the attorney is long dead). The coroner's report lists California as his birth state (info from the attorney) but I have not been able to find anyone using his two birth dates, let alone a name match. The report lists Art's occupation as "real estate speculation." He may have owned a furniture store in/around Santa Monica or Beverly Hills in the 1950s.
To my knowledge, I don't have any pictures of Art. His death records say he was Caucasian but it's just as likely that he was a light skinned African American or Filipino. I've found many men named Albert Arthur Lucas (or A. Lucas), in case Arthur was actually his middle name, and have mapped their genealogies to the point of elimination. The 2 birthdates I have for Art are 6 months apart. I suspect that he may have fudged on his age in order to join the military or some such organization. The research I mentioned in this post is just a fraction of what I've done.
Does anyone have ideas on where to look? Due to CA's privacy laws, I've been unable to verify his DOB (believe me, I have tried). He may have been adopted or born to a single woman. I've even looked into orphanages in the LA area in the early 1930s. He may not have been born in CA. It would be great if there was a database of name changes available to search! :)
All suggestions will be welcomed!
-Denise
