May 6, 2004 — July 8, 2023

An intelligent human and math wiz at heart.

Live life bold: a phrase Luke Morse used as inspiration and encouragement in the latter part of his life.
Luke had a bright mind and was strong, resilient and an inspiration to many. Robert Morse, Luke’s father, said he was very smart and had a unique love for math.
“He is the smartest person I’ve ever met,” Robert said. “He was incredibly intelligent. He could see numbers in his head, I think, because he could do math like nobody’s business.”
With his incredible wit, Luke planned to study engineering at Texas A&M this fall. Robert said Luke knew in his heart he was meant to be an Aggie.
“He just wanted to go to [A&M],” Robert said. “He didn’t apply to any other schools.”
Luke was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, clear cell sarcoma, during senior year of high school.
“They didn’t really know what to do with this cancer, because it wasn’t something they were very familiar with,” Robert said. “It’s extremely rare. It’s a sarcoma, which is 1%, as I understand it, of cancers, and within the Sarcomas, clear cell sarcoma, which is what he had, is 1% of those.”
Luke was the epitome of resilience. His grit and perseverance was not only exemplified in his battle with cancer but also in his everyday life.
“I remember another time we were out at Canyon Lake, and we were trying to learn how to kneeboard,” Robert said. “So our whole family was doing it. And Rachel, his older sister, she couldn’t do it. His mom and I couldn’t do it, and he couldn’t do it, but he was the last one to try. And he wouldn’t come in the boat. We just were like, ‘Come on, let’s come in, and we’re gonna go eat.’ And he’s like, ‘No, I’m gonna try it again.’ So he just stuck with it and eventually, he did it. He gritted his way through not being able to do it until he could do it.”
Luke’s grit and passion translated into other interests, including video games and chess, Robert said.
“What he was most passionate about was playing video games,” Robert said. “So we sent him to a lot of STEM camps … to kind of encourage him to dig more into that field other than just … the joystick controller that he had in his hand. He was president of the chess club when he was a senior, and he loved playing chess. It was a little humbling when he first beat me. We’d been playing chess since middle school for him. He developed enough of a love for the game that he would actually study it … and he was very good.”
Robert said that while Luke had many other passions, his girlfriend had become someone he loved most.
“His senior year, right around the time that we went to see the doctor, he started dating a girl in his class,” Robert said. “And so she became one of his passions, [and] he would love to go spend time with her and she was awesome. She was great. You know, she made him feel loved in a way that none of us really did.”
Gratitude became a prevalent heart posture within Luke as his battle with cancer continued.
“As he progressed through his cancer, I noticed that he became much more grateful through the process for what people were doing for him,” Robert said. “He would say thank you when, in the past, he wouldn’t, and he would think about other people and want to do things for other people. So that was a beautiful thing to see blossom.”
Let us all live by Luke’s words and remember to always “live life bold.”

Robert said he encourages donations towards the Clear Cell Sarcoma Foundation.