John Ivan Tucker

John Ivan Tucker, 80, died on November 11, 2011 at home in Talbot County after a long and valiant battle against ALS. Jack was born in Annapolis, MD, on February 8, 1931, to John Ivan Tucker, Sr., and the former, Louise Margaret Spicknall. Jack was a true Annapolitan, growing up on South River, enjoying young adulthood on Spa Creek and returning in later years to the Chesapeake Bay area within easy reach of his roots. His education was acquired mostly in local schools comprising Germantown Grammar, Annapolis High, St. Mary’s, Severn School, and the U.S. Naval Academy. In 1951, he left the Academy and enlisted in the Korean War effort, completing a year of Mandarin Chinese at the Army Language in Monterey, CA, prior to serving with the Army Security Agency in South Korea. Upon separation from the military in 1954, he resumed his studies at the University of Maryland and graduated with honors in 1956 with a BA in Government and Politics. In 1957, at the University of Illinois, he fulfilled all course work requirement for an M.A. in the same field. Despite the political science background, Jack pursued a variety of endeavors in his professional career. He worked as an industrial engineer at Montgomery Ward, Alexander Proudfoot and RCA before accepting a position with ARAMCO in Saudi Arabia in 1964, where he served as the superintendent of industrial training. In 1978, he returned to the Annapolis area and began developing real estate in Hillsmere until the opportunity of a McDonald’s franchise in upstate New York presented itself in the early 1980’s. This business venture went on to capture seven of the eight volume records for its entire region and proved to be the highlight of Jack’s occupational achievements. He retired to the Eastern Shore in 1997, where he spent his remaining years of good health power boating, sailing, crabbing, ice skating, traveling, and tending to his cherished waterfront acreage. Jack is survived by his wife of thirty-two years and 1940’s high school classmate, the former, Jeanne Knackstedt Cooke; a son by an earlier marriage, Brooks Dewell Tucker; two grandchildren, Forrest John Tucker and Kate Elizabeth Tucker; and a brother, James Spicknall Tucker. Jack’s parents and two older sisters, June Palmer and Violet Faddis, predeceased him. Pursuant to Jack’s fervent wishes, he will be cremated and any service will be private and at a later time.

John Ivan Tucker

February 8, 1931 - November 11, 2011