Mary Tucker

Mary Tucker, age 87 went to join her beloved husband of 65 years in heaven on December 26, 2021 at her home of sixty-three years in Las Cruces, NM. She was born in Crowley, Colorado May 18, 1934 to John Jacob France and Lucelle Chew France. Mary was one of five children, Betty, Mary, Bilye Jo, Carolyn and John. She is survived by Betty and Bilye Jo. The family moved to Las Cruces in 1944. Mary attended Las Cruces Union High School, but decided she was too intelligent to graduate. She began working at White Sands Missile Range where she met the love of her life, James "Jim" Tucker. Mary and Jim were married April 3, 1953 at First Presbyterian Church of Las Cruces by Reverend Frank Jones. Mary and Jim moved to Odessa, Texas where he taught science. Their oldest son John was born in March 1954 in Pecos, Texas. In 1954 Jim was accepted to Baylor College of Dentistry and they moved to Dallas Texas. While Jim attended Dental School, to keep Mary busy, she was enrolled at North Texas State College in Denton, Texas. Because she didn't have a high school diploma, she had to take a college entrance exam on the day of enrollment and passed with the highest score. Mary was the first person allowed entrance to North Texas State College by taking the exam. She graduated with Honors from North Texas State with a BA in History and Government in 1958. Her second child Ricky was born in January 1958. After graduation, Mary and Jim moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico to start their lives together. Mary was the office manager for Jim for the 53 years he practiced. When people asked what she did for a living she would answer "I own a dentist". Mary was witty and full of happiness. Mary had another son, David in 1960 and a daughter, Joy in 1963. She was a member of Las Cruces Junior League from 1960-1970 Mary was an avid sports super fan. Dr. Tucker was the team dentist for all athletes at NMSU for more than 50 years. They traveled with the Aggies all across the country. They provided free dental care and mouth guards for thousands of athletes at NMSU, Mayfield High School and Las Cruces High School. In 1977, Mary was appointed as a Regent at Western New Mexico University. She served as a regent until 1986. In 1983 Mary was elected as a New Mexico State Representative. She served as the Vice Chair of the education committee. In 1983, Mary carried the NM Athletic Trainer Licensing bill. In 1988, Mary was elected to the Las Cruces School Board. During her service on the school board several elementary schools, middle schools and Oate High School were built. One of the proudest moments for Mary was the construction of The Field of Dreams in 1999. She served on the school board from 1988-2000. She supported art and music programs and traveled with the Las Cruces High School Choir when they performed at the Kennedy Center, US Capital in 1998 and again to Carnegie Hall in 2001. You would find her visiting elementary schools delivering apples and staying in touch with the pulse of the students and teachers. Mary was a member of Business and Professional Women, Progress Club member since 2009, District President of the Progress Club from 2016-2018 and a proud member of the Democratic party. She served on the New Mexico Athletic Trainers Practice Board from 2006-2019. She is the longest serving member, receiving The Presidents award in 2018 for her service. Mary was an avid reader, never without 1 or 2 books in her hands or purse. Mary spent the last 25 years of her life attending plays, sporting events and any event that involved her grandchildren. Mary's family life was rich and varied, Her eldest son John of Las Cruces (Pam Squires) gave her two grandsons. Dr. John Tucker a physician practicing in Las Cruces and Spencer (Ena) a professional Civil Engineer in Denver, Colorado who graced Mary and Jim with two great grandsons, Grey and Jet and expecting a girl in March 2022. Mark "Ricky", the second child lives in Las Cruces and has two children, Suzette Salazar of Cathedral City, California and Mark Tyler, a Junior at New Mexico State University. Tyler (Clarissa)has given the last great grandson, Jonathan James Tyler Tucker and has a baby girl on the way. David of Las Cruces (Cheri Muncrief) the third son has four children, David Justin, a local musician, Amber Dirnberger (Gary), supervisor at DMV, Amanda of Ehly, NV, Director of an Early childhood center and Austin James (AJ, a firefighter for the Ruidoso Fire Department. Amber has been blessed with Mary's great grandson Dylan. Dr. Joy Tucker Trigo (Roberto) followed her fathers' footsteps as a pediatric dentist here in Las Cruces and is married to fellow dentist Dr. Roberto Trigo. They have two children, Robi a farmer with a Business Management degree and Elisa who has a Master's in Animal Science. The extended family includes many nephews, one niece, aunts, uncles and cousins, most of them lifelong New Mexicans. Mary and Jim celebrated 65 years together before his passing in 2018. A celebration of life is planned at Getz Funeral Home on January 15th, 2022 at 10:00 AM. Please join us for a reception in Mary's honor at Downtown Desert Yoga, 303 S Alameda Blvd. Las Cruces, NM. For those of you who are unable to attend the service, it will be live streamed at getzfuneralhome.com. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to La Casa, Amador Health Clinic or Thomas Branigan Library. The family would like to thank Getz Funeral Home who has been wonderful as well as Mary's caregivers Amarosa Morales & Judith Jimenez. Service Information
Saturday, January 15, 2022 10:00am,
Getz Funeral Home Chapel

1410 E. Bowman Ave
Las Cruces, New Mexico 88001