Nellie Marie Singley Tucker

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Mrs. Nellie Marie Singley Tucker of Little Rock, formerly of Wynne and Blytheville, went to be with her heavenly Father Wednesday, March 7, 2012, at the age of 87. She was born July 17, 1924, in Gilbertown, Ala., the daughter of James Malcolm and Rosa Mae Moseley Singley. She married Robert Fulton Tucker Sept. 12, 1942. She graduated from Gilbertown High School and attended classes at Mississippi Delta Community College in Morehead, Miss.

Nell was known as the "nurse on the bike" in Gilbertown, where she rode a bike 2.5 miles each way, rain or shine, to work as Dr. Shaw's office assistant. Later during WWII, she worked with Dr. John Armsted in Prichard, Ala., and was a secretary with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

She saved all the money Robert sent her while he served in Europe and was able to buy their first house in Mobile, Ala. After moving from Mobile to Jackson, Miss., she served as the office manager with Remington Rand. While living in Murfreesboro, Ark., she worked as a legal secretary for attorney Alfred Featherston.

Mrs. Tucker became a superb saleswoman with a variety of companies including Stanley, BeautiControl, Forever Living, Shaklee and Seal-o-Matic Waterless Cookware. She won several awards as a salesperson and sales supervisor with BeautiControl, including two trips to Acapulco, Mexico. She and Robert also enjoyed traveling and were able to visit most of the states in the continental U.S., Costa Rica, Argentina and Europe.

While Robert served as pastor of churches in Mississippi (Holly Grove, Jackson, and Indianola) and in Arkansas (Murfreesboro, West Helena and Wynne area), Nell taught Sunday School, led the choir, and helped start several church libraries. She and Robert attended training programs at both the Baptist Assemblies at Glorieta, N.M., and Ridgecrest, N.C., and then returned to train their Sunday School and Training Union teachers. Nell was known as a good soloist, an avid reader, and great story teller often using a flannel board to tell her stories.

Nell was preceded in death by her husband Robert; her parents, James Malcolm and Rosa Mae Singley; a brother Rex; and a sister Irene Willoughby.

She and Robert were married sixty-seven years at the time of his death.

She leaves two sons, Dr. Dale (and Gail Atchison) Tucker of Louisville, Ky., and Col. (ret) Harold A. (and Debbie Moran) Tucker of Little Rock;

One sister, Bernice Warren of Orlando, Fla.;

Five grandchildren, Todd (and Heather Boushey), Lydia (and Glen Farell), Paul (and Lauren), Daniel (and Lauren Cumbia), and Rachel;and

Four great-grandchildren, Drew, Aubrey, Jonathan and Nolan.

Visitation will be held 6-8 p.m. Friday at Thomson Wilson Funeral Home in Wynne. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Saturdayat the funeral home. Burial will be at the Arkansas Veterans Cemetery in North Little Rock at 10 a.m. Monday. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorials be made to the Bethany Baptist Church, 532 Bethany Road, Gosnell, Ark. 72315.