Born 1869 in Brazeau, Missouri

Died 5/3/1956

Dr. David F. Luckey graduated from Warrensburg Normal School in 1891 and received a life teacher’s certificate.  He went on to become Superintendent of Schools in Aurora, MO for three years.  He then entered Ontario Veterinary College in 1894, from which he received a V.S. degree in 1896.

He was employed with the State Board of Agriculture of Missouri for 20 years.  During 1895 he was called to Jasper and Newton Counties in Missouri because of Texas Fever.  Dr. Luckey began lecturing on contagious diseases at farmers’ institutes in 1900 and followed this work extensively for several years.

Dr. Luckey was State Veterinarian  from 1900 to 1913 and again from 1914 to 1922.  In about 1906, he started work on intradermal testing for tuberculosis.  He carried on educational campaigns on milk sanitation and tuberculosis control in dairy cattle and was one of the first to apply the intradermal test on a wide scale, beginning in 1911.  For this work and his other vigorous efforts and accomplishments in livestock sanitary science, Dr. Luckey was awarded the Twelfth International Veterinary Congress Prize by the AVMA in 1944.

Dr. Luckey was one of the first veterinarians in Missouri to gain national prominence for his work in regulatory disease control programs.  He played a significant part in obtaining the original veterinary practice act in Missouri and was a member of the Veterinary Examining Board for may years; he held graduate veterinary license No. 2 in the state. 

Dr. Luckey died in Tarkio, MO, May 3, 1956.