Dr. Lucas Newton Turk, III, 85, passed away peacefully Saturday, May 3, 2014, at Fountainview Center For Alzheimer’s Disease in Atlanta.
A native Atlantan, he was born September 5, 1928, the son of Dr. Lucas Newton Turk, Jr. and Lula Spencer Turk. After graduating from Boys High, Emory University and Emory University School of Medicine, he married Martha (Marcy) Ann Bentz of Coral Gables, Fla. Dr. Turk was a general surgery and cardiothoracic surgery resident at Yale University School of Medicine from 1952-1960, during which period he also served two years as a flight surgeon in the United States Air Force based in Roswell, N.M. and a year at Harvard Medical School for a cardiothoracic fellowship. In 1960 he and Marcy moved their growing family to Lexington, Ky., where he served on the clinical faculty of the University of Kentucky School of Medicine. In 1963 they moved back to Atlanta where he joined Dr. William Hopkins in a private cardiothoracic surgery practice. He served many Atlanta hospitals, but Piedmont Hospital was his primary venue during his 28 years of practice. He served as president of the Medical Association of Atlanta, president of the Medical Association of Georgia, president of the Rocky Mountain Traumatological Society, committee member of the American Thoracic Society, and visiting professor of surgery at Hospital Albert Schweizer in Haiti.
After retiring from surgery, Dr. Turk served as the Medical Director of the Georgia Board of Corrections and then traveled the country for 15 years as a site visitor for the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education of the American Medical Association. In 2006 he and Marcy retired to Sea Island, Ga., where he enjoyed bicycling, putting over 1,000 miles on his bike, and writing a book about surgery titled Unexpected Results: The Joy of Surgery, which was published this year by Flatline Press.
Throughout his life he loved sports as a player and a fan. He enjoyed tennis, golf, water and snow skiing. While the kids were growing up, it was not unusual to find him watching a football game on TV while listening to another game on his transistor radio, reading a book, and eating a bowl of ice cream. Travel was important to him. With great delight he and Marcy took each of their eight grandchildren on a trip abroad. Marcy preceded him in death in 2010.
Survivors include a brother, Dr. Robert Spencer Turk (Naomi); sister, Beth Turk Stockton (Mecklyn); four children, Susan Turk Spratt (Jim), Julie Turk Hunter Martin (Mike), William Turk (Carlita), and Gregor Turk (Dr. Murphy Townsend); eight grandchildren, Dr. Molly Spratt Moye (Matthew), James Spratt III, Marcie and Eliza Hunter, Newt, Emily, Tandy, and Spencer Turk; and many beloved nieces and nephews.
A memorial service will be held at the Northside United Methodist Church in Atlanta on Thursday, May 15, at 3 p.m.
In lieu of flowers contributions may be made to Alzheimer’s Foundation (please designate as research only), 41 Perimeter Center East, Suite 550, Atlanta, GA 30346, and Signature Squares of Brunswick, P.O. Box 846, Brunswick, GA 31521.
Cremation Society of Georgia, Atlanta, is in charge of arrangements.