Willis D Tucker was an American politician and newspaper editor from Washington state.
14 Facts About Willis Tucker
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Willis Tucker was elected as the first Snohomish County Executive in 1980 and served three terms in the office before retiring in 1991.
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Willis Tucker was born on November 13,1922, to a coal mining family in Beards Fork, West Virginia.
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Willis Tucker abandoned the Gonzaga scholarship and enlisted in the United States Army in 1943, during the middle of World War II, and was sent to Fort Custer to become a member of the Military Police Corps.
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Willis Tucker served under former FBI agent Melvin Purvis in Europe, investigating crimes involving American soldiers, before mustering out as technical sergeant.
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Willis Tucker entered the newspaper business as a print shop worker in Coulee City and Portland, Oregon, before moving to Snohomish in 1949.
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Willis Tucker became the co-owner of the Snohomish Tribune and served on the city's chamber of commerce for several years, before selling his share and joining The Everett Herald.
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Willis Tucker continued to be involved in community politics, later joining the Mountlake Terrace chamber of commerce and the Lynnwood Koffee Klatch, a group of southern Snohomish County business leaders.
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Willis Tucker was one of the founding members of the Association of Washington Generals, along with Lieutenant Governor John Cherberg.
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Willis Tucker's popularity began to decline during his second term, leading to a near-upset by architect Michael Glanz in the 1987 election.
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Willis Tucker won a third term by a margin of 1,500 votes, which was as low as 500 on election night, and called the vote an "anti-Willis Tucker" campaign.
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Willis Tucker remained personally popular, but declined to run for a fourth term in 1991 and was succeeded by Bob Drewel.
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Willis Tucker was an avid golfer and spent time on local courses.
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Willis Tucker died at his Snohomish home on June 30,2000, at the age of 77, after a four-year battle with prostate cancer.