When Seattle grocer Lung Sing Luke was robbed at gunpoint, he basically shrugged it off. His store, at 920 James Street on First Hill, had already been the target of six or seven robberies during the ten years since he had run the shop. This time, he figured he'd lost about $235.00.

Here, shortly after the robbery, Luke stands at his counter talking with a customer. Products on the shelves include wines and liquors, medicines, cigars and cigarettes. A large container of jawbreakers stands in the foreground.

Lung Sing Luke (1888-1983) was born in the United States but traveled to China to marry Lew Fung Hai. The couple returned to Seattle in 1931. The Lukes had six children, the eldest of whom was Wing Luke, who became a Seattle City Councilmember in 1962. The family operated a hand laundry in the University District and later moved to the James Street location, living nearby.

Caption information source: "Grocer Finds Robberies Repetitious", Seattle Post-Intelligencer, February 27, 1960, page 3. Lung Sing Luke's name is spelled "Long Sing Luke" is the printed caption of the photo accompanying this article.
Caption information source: "Wing Luke...His Memory Lives On", by Charles Russell, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, May 16, 1966, page 1.
Caption information source: "Wing Luke (1925 - 1965)", by David Takami, HistoryLink.org Essay 2047, January 25, 1999. Retrieved March 13, 2026.