He was born in Apa, Szatmár County, the son of Mihai Lucaciu and Iuliana Toth. He went to school in his native village and then attended gymnasium in Baia Mare. For high school, he first went to Uzhhorod and then to the Jesuit school in Oradea.
His parish was in Șișești, Maramureș where he built a school and a church.
In 1905, he was elected deputy for the Belényes/Beiuș constituency in the Hungarian Parliament.
In March 1917, Vasile Lucaciu was a member of a group of exiled Romanian Habsburg subjects who were sent as a delegation to the United States to campaign for Romania's cause. He died in 1922 in Satu Mare and was buried in Șișești.
Lucaciu is also known as the "Lion of Șișești". People can visit today his memorial house [ro] in Șișești, as well as the school, both being now museums.
