Lawrence Gerald Tuck

Gerald Tuck, 89, of Birmingham passed away peacefully on April 18, 2025. A devoted husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather and Coach, he is preceded in death by his wife Loxcil Burney Tuck; his parents Leo and Kathryn Tuck; brothers Malcolm Tuck and Larry Tuck.

He is survived by his children, Suzy (Kyle) Ritter, Jeff (Kim) Tuck; grandchildren, Drew (Sara) Ritter, Patrick Ritter, Caroline (David) Coe, Kirbi (Turner) Shankles ; great grandchildren, Hampton Coe, Grayson Coe, Emerson Shankles, Jackson Coe and arriving soon Chappell Shankles.

“Coach” Tuck was a mentor and friend to many of his teammates and former players. He graduated from Phillips High School in 1954. He attended Howard College (Samford) where he was a member of the Bulldogs’ baseball and football teams.

After graduating from Howard, he spent a few years playing baseball in the Baltimore Orioles and Brooklyn Dodgers organizations. He began coaching at Minor High School in 1959, he left for Mortimer Jordan High School in 1962 and remained there for the next 23 seasons. He also coached at Phillips and Tarrant High School for a total of 31 years as a high school coach, and his teams only had 3 losing seasons and recorded more than 500 wins in his head coaching tenure.

Coach Tuck joined the staff at Samford after retiring from public education in 1990. He was a member of the inaugural class of the Samford University Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005 and received the John W. Russell Ambassador of the Game Award which was co-sponsored by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in 2009. He was inducted to the Alabama High School Coaches’ Association Hall of Fame in 2013.

So many memories of our Dad have flooded our emails, social media and texts. The consistent theme was that he had a huge impact on so many. He was a larger than life figure who always chose to do the right thing and taught his children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and hundreds of players to do the right thing and to always follow Christ. Here are some of the ways he is remembered by his players:

“I never met a more tough, kind, Godly, fair and funny man in all my years of playing and coaching. He is what I think about when I think about Samford University.”

“Coach Tuck...definition of a man’s man. Tough as nails and good as gold.”

“Every player who played at Samford loved him... every single one of them. The stories about him are legendary. He saw things as black or white... no gray allowed. It was either right or wrong no room for maybe.”

“One of the greatest men I’ve ever known. As I think back he was one of the most influential coaches in my life and I don’t think it had anything to do with baseball. He cared more about helping an 18-21 year old kid learn more about being a Christian man and less about how many strikes I threw or wins we had.”

“There is an old saying, “leave the soil a little richer than you found it”, boy did he.”

So many more could be shared, but you get the picture. He was a man of influence who lived out his purpose and we are all a little better for knowing him. Well done Dad! May you rest in peace, you earned it!

A celebration of Gerald's life will be held at Ridout's Trussville Chapel on Sunday, April 27th with visitation for friends and family held two hours prior. A committal service will follow the chapel service at Elmwood Cemetery.

Dad thought flowers were an absolute waste of money, so in lieu of flowers please make a donation in his memory to Samford University Baseball. You may contact Dr. E.J. Brophy at [email protected] or go to the following link and select baseball in the drop-down menu.

https://samford.edu/giving/