Grace Tucker Obituary (1922 - 2020)

Grace Evelyn (nee Gosnell), died of complications from Covid-19 in the early hours of August 26, 2020 at Buckingham's Choice Retirement Community in Frederick Maryland. Gaye, as she was known, was born in Auburn, NY, the daughter of Frank L. Gosnell, a Presbyterian minister, and his wife, Helen Evelyn (nee Conard) Gosnell on March 31, 1922. She grew up in Auburn, NY the oldest of three siblings. Her maternal grandparents owned a summer home in Remsenburg, NY where her family spent every summer of her formative years. Her paternal grandmother enrolled her in Wellesley College as a legacy student when she was ten months old, and she matriculated there in the fall of 1939, after graduating from high school. She earned a BA from Wellesley in 1943 and went to work as a cartographer for the Army Map Service in Washington, DC for about a year. In March 1944, she married Samuel A. Tucker, a Harvard grad, and a 1st Lt. in Army at Fort Sill, OK. Following the war, the couple settled in Arlington, VA. They raised five children. Gaye was a member of Rock Spring Congregational Church. She sang in the choir, was active in the Ladies' Guild, serving several years as president, and directed the junior choir. She also was a Girl Scout Leader and taught private piano lessons. She was an accomplished pianist and had a lovely soprano voice, singing solo or with the choir at Rock Spring Congregational Church. She was a talented quilter, making quilts for each of her five children and spearheading the joint creation of quilts that were raffled off for charity, for both the Ladies Guild of Rock Spring Congregational Church and PEO. Gaye and her husband, Jed, enjoyed hiking and biking, together. They maintained a section of the Appalachian Trail for a number of years and were active in helping to maintain cabins for the Potomac Appalachian Club. They also enjoyed many hiking and biking vacations in Europe and a memorable trip to New Zealand. Their other shared pleasure was attending orchestral performances, especially the Philadelphia Orchestra series at the Kennedy Center, and theater performances holding season tickets to Arena Stage and the Folger Shakespeare Theater. In 2001 they moved from Arlington to Buckingham's Choice Retirement Community where Gaye was on the music committee for many years and sang in the choir until 2019. She was predeceased by her husband in 2019. She is survived by her five children, five grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Rock Spring Endowment Fund, Rock Spring Church, 5010 Little Falls Rd., Arlington, VA 22207.