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Larry Joe Tucker

Larry Joe Tucker of Largo passed away on Saturday, September 10, 2016, after a brief illness.  He was 69 years old.  He leaves behind his loving wife of 23 years, Beverly Tucker and her sister, Becky Gordon of San Francisco; his children Jeff Tucker (wife, Janelle Heine and their children, Erin and Lex — Larry’s beloved grandchildren) of Brisbane, Australia, and Jason Tucker (husband, Tim Carr) of Nova Scotia, Canada; his big brother, Bob Tucker (wife, Debbie) of Muncie, Indiana, his big sister, Brenda Yoder (husband, Jack) of Yorktown, Indiana; and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

Larry was born in Muncie, Indiana, in 1946 to Robert and Mary Tucker, the youngest of three siblings.  He was in the first class of students to start as freshmen at the new Southside High School in 1962, where he eventually became a star pitcher on the baseball team and, according to Larry’s telling, good enough to get an offer from the Detroit Tigers.  Instead (at the urging of his father, who’d seen action in WWII and didn’t want Larry to be sent to Vietnam), he joined the US Coast Guard after graduation, where he spent a couple of years of his service on the icebreaker USCG Southwind, which while he was on board, circumnavigated the world both East to West and Pole to Pole.  He served his country proudly from 1966 to 1970, both on board ship and in Alexandria, Virginia, where he was hand-picked to be a member of the USCG Honor Guard until he ended his military career.

Larry spent many years working in the restaurant and hospitality industry while insisting that Jeff and Jason weren’t mowing the lawn  often enough.  Both sons went on to university and flew the coop, with Jeff landing in Australia and Jason in Canada.

Larry left Muncie and moved to Florida where he met Beverly in 1993 and they were married in 1994, starting the third act of his life.  He ultimately finished his career working for over a decade with the Veterans Administration in St. Petersburg, Florida, proudly helping other veterans.

Larry and Bev spent years together perfecting their bungalow in Largo, and after he retired in 2006, he spent his time golfing, learning and creating pottery, traveling with Bev (thanks to her career as a travel agent, they had many wonderful adventures to exotic locations), cooking on his barbecue grill and picking leaves out of their pool.  He had even been collaborating on a pottery project with his son, Jason, making special pottery pieces that cold be re-imagined in fused glass.  The last few years he spent reconnecting with old friends from his Coast Guard days, and was making plans to attend the Honor Guard Anniversary Ball in 2017.

Larry’s family want to thank the doctors and nursing staff at Largo Medical Center for all of their hard work and support during this trying time.

A memorial service will be held in St. Petersburg at Bay Pines National Cemetery on October 19, 2016 at 3:00 PM.  His remains will ultimately be interred at Arlington National Cemetery at a ceremony to be held some time next Spring.  In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Disable American Veterans.

 

 

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