Calvin I. Luckett, a Baltimore public schoolteacher for 40 years, died Thursday of cancer at Stella Maris Hospice. He was 70 and lived in the Lochearn section of Baltimore County.
Mr. Luckett began his career in 1953 as a business teacher at the former Fairmount Hill High School. In 1971, he left that school to become a member of the first faculty at Walbrook High School, which opened in 1971. He taught business at Walbrook and retired from there in 1993.
“He just liked to teach. He just wanted to be an excellent teacher,” said his wife, the former Catherine Stallings, whom he married in 1965.
Mrs. Luckett, also a city public schoolteacher, said that her husband enjoyed the challenge of teaching difficult students.
“He liked to take the kids and refine their rough edges, almost like diamonds,” she said. “He liked to try and help all students, no matter what the circumstances were.”
Belinda Harris, an administrative secretary who worked at Walbrook High with Mr. Luckett for 10 years, said, “He was patient, that was him. I remember his favorite saying ‘It’s going to be all right.’ He’d stick his head in the office and always said, ‘It’s going to be all right.’ “
A Baltimore native, Mr. Luckett graduated from Frederick Douglass High School in 1944, then served two years in the Army.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in business education in 1950 and a master’s degree in 1970, both from Morgan State College.
Mr. Luckett was a golfer and avid reader. He was a member of Douglas Memorial Community Church in West Baltimore.
The Rev. Marion C. Bascom, who retired last year as pastor of Douglas Memorial, said Mr. Luckett was instrumental in the success of the church’s Camp Farth-est Out, which takes underprivileged youths on overnight camping trips.
“He was a meticulous kind of person who enjoyed giving instruction to young people,” Mr. Bascom said. “He was a thoroughly dedicated human being.”
A funeral is scheduled for 11: 30 a.m. tomorrow at Douglas Memorial Community Church, 1327 Madison Ave.
Other survivors include a son, Craig E. Luckett; a daughter, Cassandra L. Clemons; and a grandson. All are of Baltimore.
Memorial contributions may be made to Camp Farthest Out.
