Jo Fuchs Luscombe — a force of nature who, in a lifetime of work and volunteer efforts, accomplished everything from 5 terms in the Connecticut House of Representatives (including minority whip) and Westport’s 3rd selectwoman, to leadership (and boots-on-the-ground) service in nearly every major organization in town — died last weekend. She was 94.
An official obituary has not yet been released. But in 2017, “06880” hailed her as one of our first Unsung Heroes. I wrote:
If you’ve been in Westport for any length of time, you’ve probably heard — and met — Jo Fuchs Luscombe.
She’s been involved in every aspect of life here — politics, education, community service. If it needs doing, Jo has done it.
But how many people know her back story?
A Dallas native, she was just a year old when her father — an oilman — moved the family to Venezuela. Jo grew up speaking Spanish — and gaining an important, real-world view of life.
She went to boarding school and college in Texas, headed to Katherine Gibbs secretarial school, got married at 19 and had a child at 20.
Jo Fuchs Luscombe
Her husband was in oil too, so they headed to Libya. Jo learned Italian there, and was once more immersed in a very different culture.
In her mid-30s, after moving back to the US, Jo and her husband divorced. Encouraged by Rev. Dana Forrest Kennedy, she threw herself into every aspect Christ & Holy Trinity Church. She became president of the Women’s Guild, served on the vestry, and ran fundraisers.
She got interested too in the Westport Historical Society. Jo was a driving force behind the acquisition and restoration of Wheeler House — owned at the time by her church — as the organization’s headquarters.
In 1980, Jo was asked to fill out an unexpired term on the Zoning Board of Appeals. Public speaking did not come easily. But — as with everything else in her life — she worked to master it.
She won a full term on her own, then was appointed to the vacant post of 3rd selectman.
In 1986, Jo managed her friend and fellow Westporter Julie Belaga’s campaign for governor.
Jo’s next step was the state House of Representatives. She served 5 terms — from 1987 to ’97 — and rose to assistant minority leader and Republican minority whip.
At the same time, she was involved in the League of Women Voters (1989-2011). She was a member of Westport Sunrise Rotary from the 1988 beginning, and was the first female president (1991-92).
Retirement from state politics did not slow her down. As a 10-year member of Westport’s School Building Committee (and chair) she helped oversee 5 major construction and renovation projects (including the new Staples High School).
Jo Fuchs Luscombe (Photo courtesy of Westport Woman’s Club)
Remarriage did not slow her down either. Jo was president of the Westport Woman’s Club from 2003-05 (where she helped run major events like the art show), and was active in the Greens Farms Garden club, and countless others.
As a Westport Weston Family YMCA board trustee from 1998 to 2015, she helped shepherd the new building on its long, torturous journey from downtown to Mahackeno. She earned a “Faces o Achievement” Award from the Y in 1999.
She was even a justice of the peace.
Her husband John says there is one reason she accomplishes so much: “She doesn’t sleep.”
There’s one more thing: Jo Fuchs Luscombe is one of the nicest, most always-smiling people you’ll ever meet.
Congratulations, Jo. And thanks from all of us, for all you’ve done in so many ways.
(Hat tip: Bobbie Herman)
Cards can be sent to Jo’s son, Edward Fuchs: 52 St. James Drive, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33418. A full obituary will be published when available.
The borders of State Representative Jonathan Steinberg’s 136th District have shifted slightly, though it continues to include only Westport. He’s lost some voters in the western part of town. His district still runs all the way to the Fairfield town line.
