The idea came from Lee Davis, a longtime parishioner at St. Lucy’s Church. Davis prepared Thursday for a surprise presentation he helped to bring about by doing the kind of thing he does all the time: He wore a yellow vest as he guided visitors to parking spots in the church lot.
Davis, 72, a business agent for SEIU Local 200, was raised on nearby Niagara Street, on the near West Side of Syracuse. He started attending St. Lucy’s as a child, a lifetime allegiance reinforced decades ago by the arrival of the Rev. James Mathews, a Catholic priest for whom Davis offered this testament:
“He’s as close to Jesus,” Davis said, “as anyone I’ve ever met in my life.”…