Lawrence Adam Eckert, known as ‘Larry’, was a general surgeon in Toronto, Canada. He was born in Buffalo, New York, USA, the son of Georg and Eva Eckert. The family went to Romania when he was two and immigrated again when he was 14, to Canada. He was raised as a devout Catholic. He attended the University of Toronto Medical School, graduating with an MD in 1944. He went to the UK for postgraduate training and gained his FRCS in 1950. He returned to Canada, where he practised as a general surgeon, continuing until he was well past 80. In 1955 he joined the Osler Bluff Ski Club and skied until he was 88. He played golf until he was 94, always preferring to walk the course rather than ride in a cart. In 1955 he married Solvejg Ingrid Kjaergaard, a Danish physiotherapist he had met in London. They had five children, Karen, John, Lilo, Bobo and Tom, and 13 grandchildren. Eckert died on 16 November 2015 at the age of 96 at Sunnybrook Hospital, Toronto, surrounded by his family.