Frank Hammond Tucker, 93, passed away on January 27, 2017. He was predeceased by his wife, Kathryn Libby Tucker, and his parents, Frank Edmund and Evalyn Godfrey Tucker. He will be greatly missed by his daughters, Elizabeth Tucker Gould and husband Geoffrey D. Gould, Sarah Tucker Owens, and Margaret Tucker Mitchell and husband William C. Mitchell; grandsons Andrew Mitchell (Becca), Brian Mitchell (Lindsey), and Peter Gould (Liz); granddaughter Susan Mitchell Miller (Matt), and great-grandchildren Lilly Anne Miller, Jack William Mitchell, and Grace Tucker Mitchell, as well as many other devoted family members and friends.
Frank was born December 29, 1923 in Millville, New Jersey. He graduated from Johns Hopkins University and the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, where he was a member of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Later he completed his M.A. and Ph.D. at Georgetown University. He attended the Japanese Language School in Boulder when he joined the Navy in 1943. His Naval career included several years of service in Japan, involvement in the Naval intelligence school in Bainbridge, Maryland, and establishment of the Southeast Asian processing group in what subsequently became the National Security Agency in Washington, D.C. He was State Registrar of the District of Columbia Society, Sons of the American Revolution, and was a member of the Newcomen Society of North America, the Association for Asian Studies, and the Science Fiction Research Association.
In 1963 Frank joined the faculty of Colorado College as a history professor, retiring in 1989. He was the author of three books: The White Conscience (1969), The Frontier Spirit and Progress (1980), and Knights of the Mountain Trails: A Century of Hiking in the Mountains and Parks of the Pikes Peak Region (2003). Locally he served on the executive boards of the Historical Society of the Pikes Peak Region, the Colorado
Springs Rotary Club, the Charter Association, the Salvation Army, the Red Cross, and the Springs Area Beautiful Association.
As the oldest member of the Saturday Knights hiking group, Frank enjoyed many memorable hikes and made many contributions. The family would like to thank all of the wonderful Saturday Knights who were so good to him; they would also like to thank all of Frank’s good friends at Grace Church, especially Deacon Sally Ziegler, and his friends at Colorado College. Warm thanks go to Ronni and Joe Kennedy, Beth and Bill Zautke, Kathryn and Don Wenderski, Bill and Diana Garrison, Tom Mauch, Jack and Cherry Kinney, the Straeb family, Glennis Hickman, Ellery Forterel, Suzanne Hastings, Mary Mulrony, Compassus nurses, and other very kind friends and caregivers for their important help.
The Shrine of Remembrance in Colorado Springs and Watson, Neal and York Funeral Home in Cornish, Maine will handle funeral arrangements. A memorial service will take place at Grace Church on 601 North Tejon Street, Colorado Springs at 11:00 A.M. on Monday, February 6, 2017. Interment will occur in Limerick, Maine at a later date. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to Grace Church or Red Cloud Indian School, 100 Mission Drive, Pine Ridge, South Dakota 57770.