Rev. George Luciani

1935 - 2018

Rev. George A. Luciani passed away peacefully after a long illness on January 10, 2018 at his home in the Chelsea Retirement Community with his wife and family at his side. George was born in Iron Mountain, Michigan on July 18, 1935. As a teenager he answered God's call to the ministry. After his high school graduation, he attended Vennard College in University Park, Iowa. It was there he met, and then on May 29th 1956, married Carolyn Bowlin from Natchez, Mississippi. They made their home in Ewen, Michigan where George was appointed by the Detroit Conference of the United Methodist Church to serve the Ewen Charge which was made up of four churches, in addition to Ewen it included Bergland, Kenton and Sidnaw. While there he also graduated from Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin.
He then attended seminary at the Methodist Theological School in Ohio while serving congregations in Britton and in Millville, Michigan. In 1963 he was ordained in the United Methodist Church, Detroit Conference. From 1963 to 1998, George served churches in the Upper Peninsula - White Pine charge (which included Ontonagon, Rockland and Greenland), Hancock, Ishpeming, and Sault Ste. Marie and Algonquin. While in Ishpeming George did a ministerial exchange with a minister from Bodmin, Cornwall, England for six months. In 1998 he retired to Marshall, MI to be near his family. During retirement he was privileged to be the Visitation Pastor for the Marshall UMC as well as to fill the pulpit in Quincy and Homer for a short time. Also in retirement, he filled in for a pastor in East Looe, Cornwall England for three and a half months. In addition to his ministries in the Upper Peninsula, he was active in Conference Boards and Committees. Also he was a delegate to four World Methodist Conferences which took him to Hawaii, Singapore, Kenya, and Brazil. These were inspirational and helped to give insight to world ministries. He and Carolyn loved to travel and were able to visit Israel several times. Youth ministry was a joy for George, and he was a Youth Leader for the Marquette District. For many years he spent time at Camp Michigamme as counselor or dean.
George was preceded in death by his parents Americo and Grace (nee Dohrman) Luciani; his siblings Lucille (Joe) Konwinsky, his brothers Louis "Babe" (Lorraine), and Jack (Veronica)(Polly), and by his granddaughter Anna Grace.
He is survived by his wife Carolyn (nee Bowlin); four children Janet (Mark) Richardson, Don (Leslie), Doug (Lynne), and Dan (Heather); ten grandchildren David (Lindsay Demmy) Richardson, Sarah (Tim) March, Hannah (Michael) Reinker, Michael, John, Joe, Olivia, Maria, Jack, and Jeremy Luciani; and six great-grandchildren.
A funeral will be held at the chapel at Chelsea Retirement Community, Chelsea, MI, Saturday, January 13, 2 p.m. Visitation at Cole Funeral Chapel Friday from 5-8 p.m. and at the CRC Chapel from Noon until 2 p.m. Private burial will take place at Oakridge Cemetery, Marshall, MI. In lieu of flowers or gifts, friends are asked to contribute to either the United Methodist Retirement Communities Foundation (www.umrc.com/umrc-foundation) or Camp Michigamme (www.campmichigamme.org). To sign George's guestbook, please go to ColeFuneralChapel.com.