May 11, 1936–March 20, 2022
Ronald Bruce Tucker passed away on March 20, 2022, at Saint George Regional Hospital from complications from COVID-19.
Ronald was better known as “Bruce” to his immediate family and “Ron” to those who later met him. He was a beloved husband to his wife Caroll to whom he was married for 63 years. He was an awesome father to his two daughters Brenda and Shelli.
Ron graduated from Michigan Valley High School at Michigan Valley, Kansas, in 1954. He graduated from Kansas State Teachers College, now Emporia University, in Emporia, Kansas, majoring in biology in 1958. Ron taught at Haysville, Kansas, Junior High for two years. He then returned to Emporia, Kansas, where he was manager and floral designer for Anderson’s Greenhouse for six years. I
n 1967 Ron began employment for the Santa Fe Railway, now known as Burlington-Northern-Santa Fe. During that time the family moved frequently as the company requested. Ron held work titles in the accounting and internal auditing departments and later joined the Transportation Department in Chicago, Illinois, and Kansas City, Kansas, until his retirement in 1991.
In 1991 Ronald and Caroll moved to the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. Ronald joined the Century 21 Real Estate Company at Camdenton, Missouri, where he worked until 1999. He and Caroll then moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. In 2006 they moved to Lawrence, Kansas, and in 2017 moved to Hurricane.
Ron and Caroll are avid advocates for wildlife and had certified their Lawrence, Kansas, home as a Wildlife Habitat. Ron touched the earth by gardening, planting, caring for flowers and trees and feeding the wildlife each day. Observing the beauty of the sky each morning and evening, experiencing the changes of the seasons and realizing the fragility of the earth inspired him to be an earth care advocate. His hobby was designing and creating stained glass pieces for family and friends.
Ronald was preceded in death by his parents Frank and Opal Walker Tucker, in laws, William and Nellie Palmer Throm, brothers: Morris Tucker, Charles “Lewis” Tucker and wife Esther and son Steven Brent and Marlin Wayne Tucker and wife Irene and daughter Marla Kay; sister, Bernice Bulmer and husband Drexel.
Survivors include his wife Caroll; daughter Brenda Kaye, husband John Haslam, grandson Jacob; daughter Shelli Christine and husband Daniel Merrion; brother Gary Edward Tucker and wife Sharon Thompson and their daughters Melanie Tucker Peters and Carrie Tucker Knight; sister-in-law Martha “Pat” Curtis Tucker, nieces Cynthia Tucker Eubanks and Sarah Lucile Tucker Carvey, nephews Douglas Wayne Tucker and Thomas Curtis Tucker. Included are brother-in-law Billy Gene Throm and wife Linda Harris and sister-in-law Judy Throm Pecenka and husband Thomas, as well as many beloved nieces and nephews.
Ronald and Caroll are members of the First Presbyterian Church in Lawrence, Kansas, where they participated in many activities with their church family.
A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date in his state of birth, Kansas. Memorial Contributions can be mailed to the Pine View Mortuary or made to the Nature Conservancy, 559 East South Temple, Salt Lake City, Utah 84102.
Arrangements are under the care of Pine View Mortuary, 435-986-4222. Visit the Pine View Mortuary website for full obituary and funeral service listing.