Born on 18 April 1907, Joe Luke was the son of Edward Barker Luke, a nurseryman in Ottawa, and Jane née Corbus, the daughter of J R Corbus, a doctor in Chicago. Joe was educated at Montreal West High School and entered McGill University in 1924. After qualifying in 1931, he did a number of junior jobs, including serving as a demonstrator in anatomy and then in surgery, before completing his surgical training at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal. This included a year when he visited England to take the FRCS. He joined the RCAMC in 1940, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He was awarded the MBE on 23 December 1944 for "gallant and distinguished services in North West Europe". After the war, he returned to McGill, rising to Associate Professor of Surgery in 1961 and senior surgeon. He performed Canada's first kidney transplant operation. He was a prolific author, contributing three chapters to H F Moseley's *Textbook of surgery* (London, Henry Kimpton, 1952) and more than 50 articles. He died in November 1982 aged 75, survived by his wife Eleanore née Wallace, and a son, Anthony, and daughter, Roslyn (Mrs Favey).