James Adair Tucker (fondly known as simply Tucker to those that knew him best) was born on January 17, 1946 in Elwood Indiana. His dad, Ray Perry Tucker was an Air Force pilot, his mom, Jane Ann Bonnett Tucker stayed at home with Jim and his little sister Kathy. They transferred from Air Force base to base until Jim’s father was killed in plane crash when Jim was only seven. Jane moved to Wisconsin, married childhood sweetheart Leland Dutch Schreiber, and raised the kids there.

Tucker graduated from Columbus High School in Columbus Wi and attended the US Air Force Academy Preparatory School. He then graduated from UW Madison with degree in accounting. He worked at several jobs in the Madison and Columbus areas, including a plumbing firm.  Tucker started working in his step dad’s feed mill when he was only 9 years old, lifting bags of grain larger than he was.  Little did he know that Agribusiness would end up being his lifetime profession. 

Tucker married Alta Marie Schmidt and fathered two amazing children, Jon and Beth.  They moved to Indianapolis, Indiana where he worked with Central Soya.

After divorce, Tucker worked in Fort Wayne, Indiana, then moved to Circleville, Ohio with Manna Pro Corporation. He married Barbara and became a dad again with Heather and Caitlin. They lived in Circleville 15 years before moving to Manchester MO with work, where he retired after 28+ years.

Tucker loved doing crosswords in ink, playing nonstop solitaire on his tablet, enjoyed creating models and doing puzzles, watching rerun after rerun on cable or just sitting on back patio watching the hummingbirds, deer and random nature that came to his doorstep. He loved his Fleetwood Mac, adored Stevie Nicks and Bette Midler, sang along to musicals, and occasionally would dance thru the kitchen, with a pineapple on his head.  He appreciated all the arts, loved going to art fairs. He was always quick to laugh, loved fiercely and deeply, and never met a person he wouldn’t offer to help. Family became his world.  Cancer and COPD  in recent years made his world smaller and smaller, but it seemed his heart just got larger and larger. He spent almost every day with his Barb for 42 years, and held hands right to the end. 

Tucker passed comfortably at home the evening of August 6th with family. He wanted just a simple cremation, no ceremony. 

Jim is survived by his wife, Barbara; children and grandchildren, Jon David Tucker (Jennifer and Justin), Beth Ann Brown (Jeff and Gavin), Heather (Hayden) and Caitlin (Cory, Jonah and Ollie); his sister Kathy Garvey ( Charles); many nieces and nephews; and brothers in law, Robert Jr, Willie, and Charlie (Debby).