Mike Tucker
Bawb
1970. Bob traveled from Hyattsville Maryland to Florence Alabama with his best friend Tom and Tom's bandmates. While there, he met a smiling charming young woman called Girl Mike. There was an instant attraction. Tom and his band were there to become studio musicians in Sheffield Alabama at the same studio where Dock of the Bay was originally recorded. While staying there, as the guests of the studio, they were motel mates with another band whom we would later learn became Leonard Skinnerd. Yes, that tale is true!
When the gig with the studio fell through, they returned to their homes in Maryland. Bob, shortly after, moved to a tiny Town in West Virginia to be a Disk Jockey. After a few months, he regained contact with Girl Mike. Through a series of faithful events, she was able to make a trip to West Virginia and save him from this horrible plight!!
He left West Virginia with Girl Mike and a couple of her friends whom she had convinced to go rescue him from this town of 4-Hour daylight.
He shortly returned to his home in Maryland where Tom was with another band who was moving to Denver. Bob went with them. It wasn't long after that Girl Mike came to be with him in Denver. The household of 14 learned that they lived in the house at Buffalo Bill Cody had died in. Curiosity got the best of us and we made it a goal to find out if this was true. After many weeks of going from historical society to the library to eventually to Denver Post we discovered that it was true! Buffalo Bill definitely died in that house.
He got a job at a local radio station, KBPI, as morning drive time disk jockey, a very prestigious position in the radio world. His boss was Jim Withers and many years later they were still friends. Changing ownership of the station brought an end to Bob's short-lived career in Denver. Bob and Mike returned to her home in Birmingham. After about a year and a half of working part-time Bob joined the Air Force and finagled a position in Cheyenne Wyoming which was as close to Denver as we could get. Stationed there for 2 years, there were many trips made to Denver for long weekends. Several of those weekends time was spent at Lookout Mountain at the Buffalo Bill Museum. After three curators it was finally acknowledged that the house on Lafayette was definitely house that Cody had died in and still today you will find a picture of the house with our friend Willy in the door, on the bulletin board in the museum.
Bob was then transported to Greenland and a new career field in the Air Force in public affairs which included being a disc jockey, a journalist and the liaison between community and Air Force Base. There wasn't much community in Greenland!!
It's an island!
After Greenland came Hancock Field outside Syracuse, NY. While stationed there, digging out of the snow more often than basking in the sun, Jim Bob was born. Another auspicious event was when Bob was awarded the Thomas Jefferson Award. This award is the highest award given for journalists in all five services of the United States. Only one is awarded a year. Bob had written an op-ed about the potholes of a trip to work on the roads of North Syracuse. I wish I still had a copy of that! It was absolutely hilarious!
From Hancock Field we went to Guam. It's an island… we survived.
From Guam we went to Biloxi. Bob was very instrumental in many of the City activities; as liaison he was a very popular person! Our second child, Daniel, was born while there.
From Biloxi will went to Arizona. While stationed at Williams Air Force Base in Mesa, we enjoyed local activities and ventured around the state and into Colorado enjoying the variety of sights and sounds, smells and tastes that this part of the country has to offer. One of Bawb's favorite things to do while stationed in the desert was to tube down the Salt River. The first summer we were there Charlotte and Randy both came to visit at the same time. Bob was extra excited to take them on the river! It wasn't until we got home that afternoon that we realized why it “just didn't feel right” out on that river. That day, the highest temperature ever recorded happened; it was 122° at Sky Harbor airport and the 737s could not take off - all planes had been grounded.
From Arizona we spent his last year of military service in Missouri, a few miles from the family homestead of Sedalia. We spent many hours searching cemeteries for gravestones of his past relatives.
Bob retired in Biloxi Mississippi. He worked at a local radio station enjoying his time producing commercials and a few hours on the air. When Katrina hit that all came tumbling down and after a year he returned to his home of Maryland.
Eventually he met Francis and they were married a few years later.
She has taken excellent care of him over the years and I know loved him very much. Thank you Fran.