Born in 1918 near Marshfield, Wisconsin in the town of Rock in Wood County, Wisconsin, Pulvermacher was one of nine children of a farm family. His three brothers became priests. In 1942, at the age of 24, he joined the Capuchin Order, taking the religious name Lucian. He was subsequently ordained to the priesthood on June 5, 1946. At first he was posted to a parish in Milwaukee, but in 1948 he was sent to Japan. He spent the greater part of his career as a Capuchin (from 1948 to 1970) as a missionary priest in the Ryukyu Islands, including Okinawa. In 1970, he was transferred from Japan to Australia, where he continued his missionary work until his disillusionment with the changes that followed the Second Vatican Council of 1962-1965. In January, 1976 he left the Capuchin Order, and return