Donald "the Doctor" Luce

Donald Luce, 79, of Brockport, NY peacefully passed away on October 4th, 2025, after a long battle with Multiple System Atrophy. Born in Brockport, he was father to four surviving children: Ed Luce (Patty), Robert Luce, Richard Luce and Jennifer Luce (Kevin Wlos). He is also grandfather to: Ryan Luce, Kyle Luce, Mikey Luce, Jordann Delgado and has 6 great-grandchildren. He is also survived by 2 sisters, 2 brothers and numerous nieces & nephews who he loved very much.

Dad was known for being hard-working and giving with his time when needed. He spent his early years working on many farms around his family's home on Root Road where the previous generations settled in the 1800's. After graduating from Brockport high-school, he started his career at Owen's Illinois as a line worker. He spent many years after that as a body man/mechanic in the auto industry – even owning his own shop with his brother Fred named Luce Collision. Dad finished his career as a pipe fitter working until retirement at KODAK.

Though Dad was not a big gift giver, he would say on many occasions that his gift was his time. He may be best known as the guy who would fix your car for free or almost free. Every relative and friend will have a story about Don saving the day by fixing their vehicle. He stopped uncountable times in his life to help complete strangers who were on the side of the road with their hood open. The next time you see a classic car or truck driving around in the summer, it might just be one of the many that dad helped paint & restore.

As a young man, dad was a guitar player and lead singer for two successful country & western bands. He tells many stories of fun music and dancing at the former Hitching Post in Brockport. One of dad's life passions was bowling where he spent almost 60 years as a high average bowler. He consistently averaged over 200 even when that wasn't an easy thing to do and bowled five 300 games (a perfect score), even bowling one at the age of 69. In the bowling world, he was affectionately called "the Doctor" as he loved coaching other bowlers and teaching bowlers that were just learning the game. Dad bowled many 700 series and won numerous tournaments and pot games over the years!! The bowling community was his second family.

Dad's love for the horses was something he enjoyed even on his last days in the nursing home. Although, he probably lost more bets than he won, he made long lasting friendships with the people at OTB.

His family would like to thank the staff at the Elderwood Nursing Home who took great care of our dad during the months that he was sick. We would also like to thank the family & friends that took the time to visit dad during his journey.

A celebration of life service will be held on October 12th from 11:00 – 2:00pm at the Brockport Veterans Club, 222 West Avenue Brockport, NY 14420.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in dad's name to the mikeroweWORKS Foundation. (https://mikeroweworks.org/donate/) This foundation gives scholarships to young people to skip college, learn a trade and work hard to be successful.