William Paul Luke M.D. , age 89, passed away peacefully on April 25th at home in Gulfstream, Florida succumbing to A.L.S., which he had fought for 15 years. Not a record, but he tried. He was eased on his way by his loving caregivers and friends of many years, Alicia Prado, Amanda Liptak and son David.
He is survived by his three children, David, Hunter, and Laurie. Daughter in law LuAnne Luke and son in law David McCaskey along with Hunter's sons Griffin and Dawson and Laurie's daughters Sarah and Morgan will miss him as will nieces Judy and Debbie and nephew Richard. His four stepchildren, Sandy, Hans, Donna and Andrew he considered as his own. He was a proud Grandfather of seven step-grandkids and loved all mentioned equally and well. He was predeceased by wives Joey and Joan, father William, mother Lenora and his sister Yvonne.
Bill led a great life with a gentle enthusiasm for all that he endeavored and his huge heart was apparent to all so fortunate to be called friend or coworker. He was sure to bring a smile to all whenever or wherever he encountered them. Though he achieved much and was honored by many, his greatest joy was happiness and success of others. He led a life of love, thoughtfulness, generosity and compassion and the world is a shade less bright without him. He was so lucky to have had two phenomenal women as his wives and with them he shared his many milestones, both personal and professional.
Upon graduation from the Boston University of Medicine, he set forth on his professional adventures. He joined the staff of Cape Cod Hospital where he held positions of Chief of Surgery, Chief of Staff and a position on the Board of Directors. As a member of the Board of Reagents at Boston University he was instrumental in the establishment of the Residency program at Cape Cod Hospital. These all occurred while busy as a partner in Cape Cod Surgical Associates which he had formed with his great friend John McVey and soon included Sepo Rapo, Rich Lewis and John Scarpato. They all later established the Cape Cod Vascular Laboratory.
Towards the end of his career on the Cape and beyond, he spent time for many years with Sepo Rapo in the Jungles of Nicaragua to treat the native population who would travel to the MASH type hospital where they assisted at, and which was accessible to staff only by small plane. To stay busy later he joined the staff at the Toronto General Hospital at the invitation of good friend Dr. Griff Pearson as a Visiting Professor of Surgery. He would do this for many years even after retiring to Florida with Joan.
Bill had many interests and hobbies of which in each he fully immersed himself. Among them he would count sailing (far, well and wide). He and friends started The Cape Cod Cruising Club and he participated in many of the famous Figawi races on Cape Cod. Flying also ranked high (he was diagnosed with ALS while getting his instrument rating). Croquet was a passion he shared with Joan (to the point of building his own lawn in Delray Beach and building a summer home in North Carolina in a community that had a noted croquet club). He and wife Joan also donated the funds to build the croquet lawn at the Saint Andrews Club. He was particularly proud to be elected to the Croquet Hall of Fame in 2010 as one of one hundred and three members.
Never one to sit idle he spent his final years teaching himself to build museum quality ship models, some of which took up to a half year to complete. He was fortunate to have had great friend John Stobart, famed marine artist, critique his efforts and was glad to return the favor when viewing John's works in progress over dinners. He was very active in the ALS community and lobbied Congress for funding when he was still able to travel to Washington and personally conducted voluminous research on his own to understand the disease.
A memorial service will be held at Lorne and Sons Funeral Home, 745 NE 6th Avenue, Delray Beach on Tuesday, May 2nd at 11:00 am. He will be interred on Cape Cod surrounded by his family at a later date. In lieu of flowers make donations, in his name, to The ALS Association Florida Chapter, 3242 Parkside Center Circle, Tampa, Florida 33619