Toby Keith hailed his wife Tricia Lucus as his ‘best nurse’
By Lisa Respers France, CNN
(CNN) — Before his death this week from stomach cancer, Toby Keith reflected on how integral his wife was to helping him his live with the disease.
“She’s been a trouper. She’s the best nurse,” Keith said of his wife of almost 40 years, Tricia Lucas, in a recent interview with KWTV-DT. “She absolutely the first time we went to Houston, to the hospital, she stepped right in and she just took control and said, ‘We got this. Let’s go.’”
“So she’s like, ‘We’re going to get this and don’t worry about it.’”
Keith died Monday at the age of 62.
The legendary country singer went public with his stomach cancer diagnosis in 2022, which he had been dealing with since October 2021.
He and Lucus had a love story he could have written in one of his songs.
They reportedly met at a club when she was a 19-year-old oil company secretary and Keith was working as an oil field worker.
They married in 1984 and he adopted her daughter, Shelley. Daughter Krystal and son Stelen later joined the family.
In a 2001 interview with People magazine, Lucas said, “Most people think [Toby Keith} is just the most romantic person on the planet.”
“He has his moments of charm,” she said. “It is nice to get a bouquet of flowers, but I’ve told him, ‘Save the money. Roses die in five to seven days. Buy me an outfit or take me to dinner.’ ”
The couple shared common passions, including philanthropy. She has served as vice president the Toby Keith Foundation of which he was president.
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