Marion D. Tucker

Dr. Marion D. Tucker of Ocean Springs died Thursday morning of complications from a previous stroke. She was born on January 22, 1939, the youngest daughter of Thurston Naylor and Allie Bell Dorset in Trenton, Tennessee. She graduated from Dyersburg High School and received her bachelorate degree in chemistry from the University of Tennessee. She then received her Master's degree in Organic Chemistry from the University of Mississippi at Ole Miss. After attending Ole Miss, she was employed for Merck Pharmacuticals in Cinncinatti, Ohio. After working for Merck, she then returned to Mississippi where she attended the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, MS., After receiving her Ph.D in Microbiology she acted as professor for a short time before entering the School of Medicine. While attending Medical School she was married to Sam Tucker of Jackson, MS. During her third year of Medical School she gave birth to their first child, Samuel Lee Tucker, Jr. During her last year of Medical School she gave birth to their second son, John Taylor Tucker. After graduating from Medical School, she started her internship in pediatrics at UMC. After completing her internship at UMC, she then worked at the Hudspeth Center where she was on the medical staff. In 1977 she gave birth to her third child, Elizabeth Ryan Tucker. In 1978 the Tucker Family moved to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, in Ocean Springs. She then completed her residency in pediatrics at the University of South Alabama in Mobile. After completing her residency, she entered into private practice in Ocean Springs. She maintained her own private practice or practiced as a member of a group for the next twenty-five years. She, during this time, served during every major hurricane from Frederick to Katrina. She was the recepient of numerous civic awards and was appointed as the Chief of Staff at Ocean Springs Hospital. She was an active member of St. John's Episcopal Church in Ocean Springs where she participated in both the choir and the lay vestry. She was also a supporter of local education and marched with the teachers when they went on strike in the early eighties. Dr. Tucker was preceded in death by her father and mother, sister, Bobby Jean Brown, and brother, Thurston Naylor, Jr. Survivors include her sons, daughter, and five grandchildren, Jessica, Taylor, Wayne, Thomas and Sam Tucker, two nephews, Eddie Brown of Bloomington, Indiana, and Mark Dorset of Trenton, TN., as well as her cousin, Carolyn Crum of Memphis, TN. A wake will be held on Wednesday, February 21, 2007, from 5-9 PM, at the Ocean Springs Chapel of Bradford O'Keefe Funeral Home on Porter Street in Ocean Springs. A viewing will be held at St. John's Episcopal Church on Porter Street on Thursday, February 22, 2007, from 12 Noon until 2:00 PM, with a Eucharistic Service to immediately follow at 2 PM. Those wishing to send memorials in Dr. Tucker's name are asked to send them to one of her favorite charities, The Boys and Girls Club of Jackson County. As I wrote these words, I refused to accept that my mother's life could be rendered down to a few paragraphs that simply catalogs the mundane things that are bane of all our existences. My mother was a part of this community that spanned the total cultural and economic spectrum. In her time, she treated everyone from royalty to the indigent. For over two decades she has treated the children of the Gulf Coast and their children in turn. Taking their survival as a personal success and each mortality as a personal defeat. She attended both their graduations and their funerals. She has testified in court to protect abused children and run out onto the football field to help treat injured players. Upon being informed of her death, I tried to contemplate the breadth and depth of Marion Tucker's impact on so many of the lives in this community. From contributions to local charities and being the auctioneer for school fundraisers, to saving the lives of newborns after emergency ceasarian operations. As a child, all of my friends talked about the "ET" light up finger that she used to "fix" their "little ouchies"; while at the same time, their older brothers and sisters told me how cool she was when she talked to them about sex education and HIV/AIDS. In trying to sum up the "highpoints" of my mother's life, I find it to be that it would be more appropriate for each of us to simply take the time to contemplate how she touched our individual lives. To all of you who knew and loved our mother, the entire Tucker Family thanks you all for the enormous demonstration of sympathy and support and may the peace of the Lord be always with you now, in this time of our collective loss and always. The Ocean Springs Chapel of Bradford O'Keefe Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.