Obituaries : * William C. Lukes; Retired Surgeon

William Creighton Lukes, a retired surgeon and 43-year county resident, died Thanksgiving Day in Community Memorial Hospital after suffering a stroke. The Ventura resident was 74.

Born in San Francisco in 1921, Lukes attended the University of San Francisco and received his medical degree from Marquette University in Indiana.

He served two years in the Navy and later became assistant chief of surgery at Hines Veterans Hospital in Chicago.

Lukes moved to Ventura County in 1952 and joined the Buenaventura Medical Clinic, where he practiced for 40 years. He was a diplomate of the American Board of Surgery and American Board of Abdominal Surgery.

For the last 25 years Lukes was an active member of the National Hotrod Racing Assn. He raced a modified 1969 AMC Javelin until his death, said his son, John M. Lukes of Ventura.

“There was a time when he was one of the top 50 bracket racers in the country,” he said. “The last time he [raced] was last Sunday at the L.A. County Raceway. He acted like he was 50 years old.”

Lukes was a member of Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church in Ventura.

In addition to his son, he is survived by his wife of 51 years, Marie Lukes; son William S. Lukes and daughters Mary Bemis and Theresa Lukes Rhodes, all of Ventura; brothers Robert and Jerome Lukes; sister Regina Guthrie, and seven grandchildren.

Rosary was recited Friday at the Joseph P. Reardon Funeral Home in Ventura. Mass of Christian burial is scheduled to be celebrated at 10 a.m. today at Our Lady of the Assumption church with burial following at Santa Clara Cemetery in Oxnard.