Remembrance of Bill Luce
By Thomas McMahon, Class of 1970
I was 9 or 10 years old in 1961, and my favorite place in the world was at the countertop of a candy shop called The Dugout.
My buddy Billy and I used to stop there after adventures in West Sayville looking for sheds to make into forts, or wandering swamps looking for
punks to smoke, or maybe on the way home from Sunday church.
The Dugout was really a place to enjoy a cherry cola and a Ring-Ding or an ice cream sundae. Mmmmm… then pick up a Nestle’s Crunch or a Baby Ruth for the road.
The story of The Dugout is the story of Bill Luce, the kind and friendly guy behind the counter. He owned the nearest thing to heaven on earth for any kid, and he was always willing to help a kid out if they were a few pennies short in cash. But I really never really knew Mr. Bill Luce.
Bill’s story starts with his parents, Frank & Anna Luce, who immigrated from Italy back in 1889 & 1903 respectively before coming together to West Sayville.
Mr. Frank Luce found work at the new and growing Bourne Estate. His relationship with Bourne leads to the purchase of land and a house he had moved from the Bourne Estate Compound to Rollstone Ave, one of three houses he built or had on his property.
Like any fine family of Catholics starting out in America, they had nine children – seven boys and two girls. The family came of age in the 1920s and 1930s, which also saw KKK chapters, meetings, and even marches in Sayville. It must have been a bit intimidating for an immigrant Italian American Catholic family to live on Rollstone Avenue in those days.
It was a time in America of social unrest when half the population was under the age of 25. Labor unrest began forcing corporations to agree to 8-hour workdays, time off, and age restrictions. Maybe because of this newfound free time, or maybe as a strategy for companies to keep workers happy, it was the era of baseball.
It was only natural that sports became a Luce family passion, especially America’s favorite pastime. The Luce brothers jumped into every baseball game, team, and league in the area. Imagine an America where baseball was the heart and pulse of every American village, town, city, and county. Sayville was no different.
Art Luce – one of the older boys – became a Sayville legend in the 1930s when his pitching led to unbelievable heights in the baseball of the day. Both Art and his younger brother Bill were known for their pitching prowess but they also both played every position on the field. Art and Bill would play on so many baseball teams in Sayville and Suffolk county, it’s truly hard to keep track of all of them. They played for Sayville High School and also on a variety of town teams:
The Sayville Cardinals, the Sayville Field Club, the Sayville Athletic Club, the Patchogue Community AC, the Republic Racers, the West Sayville Tigers, the Crummies, and the Luce Stars, to name a few.
The other Luce brothers,(Cris, Albert, Howard & Victor) got in on the fun, but it was Art and Bill who had the most professional success. Art started with the Red Sox farm team in Rock Hill South Carolina in 1934. He eventually landed a spot on the Cincinnati Reds. Bill started on a Class D Pokonoke Red Sox’s farm team, then moved in the 1940s to the Class B Reading team a Brooklyn Dodgers farm team.
World War II started and the dreams of professional baseball faded away – Art with his army service and Bill with career injuries. But through the ’40s the whole family continued to have a large impact on local baseball.
Towards the end of the ’40s, Bill started The Dugout. He ran his store the way any good sportsman would: with kindness, service, and fairness in mind. He supported many community organizations and his impact in the community was lasting.
Not only did Bill Luce bring heaven to earth in the form of a candy store, but he also played his way into baseball history, the other thing that brings out the kid in all of us. Truly a life well lived and a man Sayville kids can always look up to.
You’re a legend, Bill Luce.
