WILLIAM V. LUETKE

LUETKE, WILLIAM V.

Dr. William Vernon Luetke, M.D. passed away peacefully on August 31, 2011 in Gainesville, Florida with family at his side. He was born July 12, 1917 in Sandpoint, Idaho, the son of Dolly Lamberston and Billy Pat Shell At four years of age, he went to five with Arthur Fredrick Luetke and Mayme White Luetke in Ontario, Wisconsin. He played football and basketball for Ontario High School and graduated in 1934. Bill attended La Crosse State College and transferred to the University of Wisconsin - Madison where he proudly played trumpet in the UW Marching Band. He earned a B.A. degree in 1938; the same year the Luetke's legally adopted him. In 1942 he was awarded a Medical Degree from the University of Wisconsin. Bill married his wife, Elizabeth Walgran, that same afternoon. He served in the Medical Corp of the United States Navy from 1943 to 1946. In 1945, he served with the 4th Marine Air Wing as a flight surgeon on the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands as a part of the Pacific campaign of World War II.

Bill did his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Wisconsin Hospital from 1947-1950. He became a member of the Wisconsin Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology and co-founded the Madison OB-GYN Society. Bill was a diplomat of the American Board of OB-GYN and in 1954 became a member of the Central Association of OB-GYN and a Fellow of the American College of OB-GYN (ACOG). He was a consultant to the Veterans Hospital in Madison and an Instructor in OB-GYN at the University of Wisconsin. In 1955, he was deemed a Fellow by the American College of Surgery and in 1956, Bill began 30 years of service as a Clinical Associate Professor of the OB-GYN department of University of Wisconsin. Bill was a long time member of the Continental Gynecological Society where he served as President in 1957. From 1955-57 and again in 1965-69 he was Chief of the OB-GYN Section at Madison General Hospital and from 1970-74, was Chairman of the Wisconsin Section of ACOG. Bill delivered over 4,000 babies and retired from surgery in 1983 and from clinical duties in 1986.

Bill and Betty eventually retired to Naples, Florida although he continued to return to Madison every summer until he moved to Gainesville, Florida in 2005. He resided at Oak Hammock where he was cared for with great love and affection by a host of kind and thoughtful staff.

Bill is preceded in death by his parents, two sisters and three children. He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Luetke (Dallas, TX), four children: Art Luetke (Madison, WI), Bill, Jr. (Red Lodge, MT), Dr. Barbara (Seattle, WA) and Dr. Charles (Jennifer Rex) (Micanopy, FL), eight grandchildren: Trevor, Jessica, Breeze, Hannah, Mary Pat, Marcy, Eli, and Maya, and 4 great grandchildren: Gus, Iggy, Bella, and Taylor. Dr. Bill Luetke will be buried in Ontario, Wisconsin, beside his parents, in a family ceremony.