Kettle Falls family of pianist and world class Irish dancer lean on God, community after teen’s death

On stage, behind his youngest son’s open casket, Ted Pancoast played the guitar and led a soulful chorus that flooded the sanctuary of Colville’s First Baptist Church .

Every one of the room’s 600 seats was claimed Sunday by family members, friends, Irish dancers and musicians who knew Lucas Pancoast, 18, but none were used during the song. Everyone stood, some with their hands in the air, letting the music subtly move their bodies as they sang along.

Lucas drowned in the Kettle River on July 20. The Pancoasts were at their annual family gathering when Lucas and his older brother David, 27, went under water.

Skylar Stover-Bonnalie, an ex-lifeguard, was one of multiple family members who dove in to save Lucas and David. Having just married into the family, it was his first time meeting the brothers.

“They walked over to me because I had a little sandcastle bucket, and they wanted to use it to catch crawdads,” Stover-Bonnalie said. “That’s literally what they were doing. They were swimming across to go catch the crawdads over in the rocks.”

David and Lucas were both flown to a Spokane hospital, but Lucas died shortly after the accident. David, who was unable to breathe on his own for around 20 hours, was discharged the next afternoon.

“Lucas was like a magnet,” Ted said Tuesday. “Everywhere he went, people were drawn to him, which I think is why on Sunday we ran out of seats.”

Ted and his wife, Brandy Pancoast, have adopted nine older children from different regions in China. Brought home to Kettle Falls at age 10, Lucas was one of six siblings who are deaf.

“People are afraid of deaf kids, and they’re just kids,” Brandy said. “They’re just kids.”

“Neither of us felt driven that we had to have biological kids. It wasn’t that we couldn’t, it was just a choice,” Brandy said. “We felt like there were kids who needed a family, and we never intended to do this many. I mean, it’s just how it all came together.”

The Pancoast parents met when Brandy was working in a music shop in Denver with Ted’s parents. The pair, both musicians, were married for a year before moving to Kettle Falls – Brandy’s hometown – around 2000. Despite many being deaf, all of their kids played piano and did Irish dance, Brandy said.

The song Ted sang at Lucas’ funeral, “Build My Life,” was one that Lucas had picked out for his upcoming role as youth director for a weekend retreat through religious organization Journey with Christ. Ted said the song was one that Lucas particularly connected with and listened to in his daily life.

Though it was difficult, Ted managed to hold back his tears for the performance.

“It was really important to (Ted) to actually not just hand off the music, but to do it,” Brandy said. “Music is a big piece of our life, even though our kids are deaf. Just like dance is a massive piece of our life.”

Last November, Lucas won the regional Oireachtas championship, pushing him into world-class status for Irish dance. A previous instructor of his at the Haran School of Irish Dance, Gunnar Nelson, said that the championship was Lucas’ first time participating. It was intended to be an introductory experience to competing.

“I can’t picture his face without a smile,” Nelson said after the funeral. “He was a quiet kid, but happy. A hard worker.”

The award Lucas won during the Oireachtas – the 18 and under men’s championship trophy – was renamed the “Lucas Pancoast Memorial Cup” after his death, Ted said.

Following a performance of the song “Thy Will” at the service, Ted said that his son never complained, was never unkind and was extremely humble.

“Lucas lived up to his name, which means bringer of light, or light giving and bright,” he said. “He was gentle and polite and helpful and always kind.”

Ted does not take credit for Lucas’ good-nature, saying that “he came to us that way when he was 10; that’s just the way God made him.”

He hopes people will take notes on Lucas’ kindness.

“We live in a society where everyone is trying to run each other down that doesn’t believe the way that they do,” he said. “I think it’s unfortunate. I think his message really is one of leaving room for humanity.”

Ted said that Lucas had only ever asked him for two things: to tell him how to fill the gas can on the family lawnmower, and to get a stand for the Oireachtas trophy he won.

The owner of Ted Pancoast Woodworking in Kettle Falls, Ted got to work on the stand. He said that Spokane’s Intermountain Wood Products donated walnut wood, and Spokane Hardware Supply donated finish – totaling around $1,000 in materials, by Ted’s estimate. The trophy and its stand will go on display at the Haran school.

“I’m hoping that it will be motivation for the dancers that are still there,” Ted said.

In addition to receiving thousands of virtual well-wishes, Ted said that the crowd who came for the funeral included a number of Irish dancers who traveled from near and far to show their support. David, who is the oldest of the Pancoast children, said that it was a relief to see so many people show their love for his younger brother, who he saw as “just a baby.”

David said that for Lucas’ 18th birthday in December, he took him out for a fancy dinner at Spokane’s QQ Sushi & Kitchen and a movie.

“I just wanted to make sure he felt special,” he said, adding that going out for food and movies gets pricey for an 11-person family.

While many families, David said, might have disagreements or fights and part ways, the Pancoasts always has one another’s backs and will work through anything.

“I want to say that we are just like any ordinary family,” he said. “But we’re not.”

Saying that her family has been “incredibly blessed” and “hugely supported,” Brandy said that parents facing hardships like hers should lean on others.

“Trust that God has a bigger picture that you can’t see,” she said. “Just faith and trust, and don’t try to do it alone, because you have people that care about you. Let them be there through this.”