Dr Asoke Kumar Dutt, 1928–2024

With heavy hearts, we announce that Dr Asoke Dutt, 95, passed away peacefully earlier this year. He is beloved of his wife, Hilda; children, Sumitra (Brian) and Indira (Stephen); and grandchildren, Manjulika, Khirode, Tushar, Rakesh, and Rajiv.

Born and raised in Kolkata, Asoke trained at Calcutta Medical College before completing his surgical fellowship in the United Kingdom. Asoke and Hilda met at work in Dartford, England. They moved to Ottawa during Expo 67 and were swept into the excitement and aspirations of their adopted country. Unwilling to endure another Ottawa winter, however, Asoke and Hilda drove across Canada—destination Vancouver—in 1968.

Asoke wholeheartedly set his roots in Maple Ridge, becoming an integral part of the medical community. He was the first resident surgeon in Maple Ridge, a vital service for a growing community often cut off from Vancouver by the Pitt River swing bridge. One of his early cases involved being called to reattach a young boy’s arm, which had been pulled off by a cougar on the Pitt River dikes before the boy’s father managed to frighten the cougar away. The boy was rushed to BC Children’s Hospital for further care, and his arm was saved. Asoke made the OR his teaching arena for all the staff there. He also operated at Mission Memorial Hospital for years, before the Mission Bridge brought Mission much nearer to the larger centre of Abbotsford. There, early on, he was able to take a severely injured man with a partially amputated leg into the OR within 10 minutes of the ambulance arriving.

An early adopter, Asoke purchased Maple Ridge Hospital’s first gastroscope out of pocket, while training in Japan. It was 1973, and Maple Ridge residents had access to gastroscopic investigation before Vancouverites did. Asoke started a colonoscopy clinic before Maple Ridge had gastroenterologists. Before there were local respirologists, he used a Bird universal medical respirator to save two patients with smoke inhalation. Asoke also spearheaded the acquisition of a mammogram machine and later laparoscopic surgical equipment for Maple Ridge Hospital (now Ridge Meadows Hospital).

Asoke’s interest in community extended beyond medicine. He was curious, was widely read, and loved discussion. He reconnected with his cultural roots volunteering as president of the Lower Mainland Bengali Cultural Society for several years. In 1987, he founded Physicians with Interest in South Asia, alongside Kesaval Chetty, Arun Garg, Gurdev Gill, Ram Ready, and Chuni Roy, to engage physicians in improving South Asian health outcomes. In Bengal, he founded a school for at-risk young women. He enjoyed and supported the arts, theatre, film, and classical Indian music.

Knowing one’s home was important to Asoke. He explored much of British Columbia and Canada with his family. Driving the Alaska Highway on its 50th anniversary and exploring Haida Gwaii were favorite highlights. He also returned to many areas of India and Tibet. After retirement, he explored a liberal arts education, which he didn’t get as a physician, to complement his travels. At Simon Fraser University, his studies included opera, Ibsen, Chinese poetry, Russian literature, apartheid, and On the Origin of Species.

His obligation to stay in Maple Ridge while on call turned Asoke into a thoughtful and determined gardener. He could talk about his garden plans for the next year and the next decade. He sourced rare trees and plants for his garden everywhere, from the VanDusen Botanical Garden in Vancouver to Minter Gardens in Rosedale. He rounded on his plantings daily. At one time, there were 60 producing nut trees on the property. He also had an array of apples, cherries, plums, peaches, persimmons, and kiwis. He started attending Vancouver Rose Society meetings in the 1970s and later became a member of the Fraser Pacific Rose Society, developing his garden to accommodate 270 rose bushes. Asoke loved to produce food for his table, where he loved to host his children, grandchildren, and friends. He will be missed by them all.

Please consider donating to the Ridge Meadows Hospital Foundation.
—Sumitra Robertson, BA
—Hilda Stanger, MBBS, FRCPC
Maple Ridge

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