Serendipity. Kismet. Luck. God.

All those played a part in bringing together Luker Plumbing owners Harry and Sandy Luker, who had been wanting to retire, and Josh and Christina Thompson, who had been wanting to buy a business.

Harry Luker has been a plumber in Fountain Hills for 25 years. He is part of a 140-year tradition of Luker Plumbing, which comes to an end this week.

“We have been searching for the right person to buy the business,” Harry said. “We were beginning to feel like it would never happen.”

Meanwhile, the Thompson family had been looking for a business to buy. Josh has been a plumber for 26 years. Josh said they had talked to a number of people about buying their business, but deals fell through after the Thompsons discovered discrepancies in books and for other reasons.

“There are some less-than-honest people out there,” Josh said.

But then something changed. One of the Lukers’ customers was a neighbor of the Thompsons. He knew Josh was looking to buy a business, and he knew Harry was selling.

Josh called Harry and the two families got together.

“It was really an instant, knowing this would work out,” Josh said.Harry agreed, indicating he “knew” Josh would provide the kind of service he, himself had provided his customers through the years. “We knew it was a good fit,” Harry said. “We can retire knowing the business is in good hands.”

Now the transition has started. The Thompsons will keep the Luker Plumbing name and the phone number, 480-837-2655, will be kept, at least for a while.

Josh will call his company Shadrach Plumbing and Cooling, named after the biblical story.

It’s about Shadrach, Mesach and Abednigo, who were thrown into a fiery furnace for not bowing down to King Nebuchadnezzar. They had faith that God would protect them.

“This is a little like being thrown into a fiery furnace,” Josh said. “But the story also is about faithfully serving to the highest degree.”

Harry commented that that story was one of the reasons he knew Josh was the right person to buy his business.

Shadrach Plumbing will have its own phone number, 602-805-0161. Either number can be used to call Josh.

Josh also is adding air conditioning to the business, being licensed in both fields.

Josh said his goal is to grow the plumbing business and to continue serving Fountain Hills in the same manner Harry has.

“The Lukers have built this business through hard work and dedication to the community,” Josh said. “We will continue in that tradition.”

The Lukers’ selling the business has been bittersweet. Sandy gets teary-eyed remembering all the years they have been in business.

“We’ll miss it,” she said. “But we are excited about this change.”

The Thompsons said they look forward to the new chapter in their lives as well.

They have lived in Fountain Hills only three years, moving here from Michigan.

“We came out here in November one year, and of course we fell in love with the weather,” Christina said.

The couple has a 13-year-old son, Luke, who has cerebral palsy. The warmer weather has been a blessing for him.

“The cold winters in Michigan were so hard on Luke,” his mother said. “When we found Fountain Hills by accident, we felt like we were home.”

And now that the Lukers are comfortable with the sale of Luker Plumbing, they now will take some time to travel to Illinois to see their grandchildren. They also will be able to spend more time at Cholla Bay in Mexico, where they have a second home.

“Yes, this is definitely going to be great,” Harry said. “And the best thing is, we will still have the house in Fountain Hills.”

The Lukers also will be able to help the Thompsons with the transition. Sandy has been training Christina with the phones and other parts of the business she has been responsible for.

“We are so happy for all of us,” Sandy said. “We are truly blessed.”