Family Life - Childood
Born on April 4, 1932, in Indianapolis, Richard Green Lugar is a fifth-generation Hoosier. His ancestor was a Hessian soldier who came from Germany to help the British maintain control over the American colonists. “Fortunately,” Lugar writes, “he had the wisdom to desert the Hessians and join the Revolutionary Army.” His son settled in Grant County in Indiana around 1821.
Lugar was born the eldest of three children to Marvin and Bertha Lugar. As a university student, he wrote that his earliest impressions of his parents were of activity and industriousness. Although materially comfortable, they worked long hours so they could devote more energy to their family and to “alleviate the suffering of humanity that called upon them.” They showed a love for life and “did not want to be cheated of any aspect” of it. They taught their children this zest for life, respect for hard work, and desire to alleviate the suffering of others.
Growing up, the three Lugar children worked hard at their chores at home and on the family farm. They also had fun and enjoyed themselves. Shortly after his twelfth birthday in 1944, Richard Lugar joined the Boy Scouts of America. He attained the rank of Eagle Scout, and eventually earned the Council’s first God and Country award. He has written that all of his experiences in the Scouts “were tremendously important to me during military service and during subsequent political life.”
The Lugar siblings also formed a musical group called “The Lugar Family Trio,” with Anne playing the piano, Tom the violin, and Dick the cello.