About the Pharmacist

Progessional/Educational

Richard (Dick) Luttekes born a twin sibling on May 12, 1962, grew up and got his base education near the Dutch city of Arnhem (One Bridge Too Far).

In highschool he was already discovered with a unique mixture of Alpha and Beta learning skills. Mastering the languages french, german, and english easily mixed with chemistry, physics, mathematics and geography and this allowed him to enter college education in alpha or beta studies.

His university of choice became the highly acclaimed University of Groningen where he combined his love for chemistry and medicine by choosing pharmaceutical science as a career path.

In 1987 he submitted the thesis “Detection of Tumor Makers in Prostrate Cancer” and graduated with a Doctorate in Pharmacology. Two years later he finalized his official studies with a degree that licensed him as a professional compounding pharmacist and started practising in the city of Rotterdam.

Soon after, in 1991 he made the decision to widen his horizons and work abroad for a few years.  This decision lead to a  3 year contract as pharmacist on the Dutch Caribbean Island of Curacao where he met his wife.

Instead of going back to Holland in 1994 where he had been offered a new position, he decided to extend his time in the Caribbean but moved to another Dutch Island, St. Maarten in the West Indies.

In 2002 he founded his own pharmacy in the capital town of the island, Philipsburg. Since then, the pharmacy has grown from a $ 300,000 company in 2002 to a $ 3,000,000 company in 2008.

His personality and immense knowledge are credited for his success that  made Philipsburg Pharmacy the most succesfull pharmacy on the Island.

In recent years his sales territory found natural expansion allowed by  cruise tourism. Many American tourists coming off cruise ships at the nearby cruise port discovered a number of advantages in their prescription needs, such as pricing challenges for identical brandname pharmaceuticals and OTC prescriptions.

Dick is currently chairman of the St Maarten Pharmacy Association.

Adding balance to his professional career, Dick has always allocated substantial time to physical sports.

Starting in his high school years with swimming and fieldhockey, he moved to rowing in his college years. While in College he spent 8 years with the Groninger Rowing Club Aegir, a 130 year old nationally known sports institution that has delivered many sportsmen on Olympic levels. He was a member of the 8+ crew that won the dutch championship with a National trackrecord in 1986.

Particularly proud of this accomplishment he held a post on the board as commissioner of equipment in the year 87-88, while celebrating 110 years of the clubs existence.

Since settling in St. Maarten in 1994 Dick has moved on to more individual sports challenges and is now a cyclist/triathlete to reckon with. Almost 48 years old, he is still considered a fierce competitor even by younger athletes.

Dick is living with his wife and 3 daughters on the beautifull bay of Oyster Pond.