Carol Colbert Tucker

Carol Marie Colbert Tucker went home to heaven on February 6, 2025 in Jacksonville, Florida. Mother was born in Columbus, Georgia on December 8, 1944 and moved to Jacksonville in 1950. Her father’s business as a Royal Crown bottler brought her family to the San Marco area where they lived in Ardsley before moving to Elder Lane. Everyone in town loved an RC Cola at the Colbert house. She attended Hendricks Avenue Elementary and graduated from Landon Junior/Senior High School in 1962 where she met her handsome husband of 57 years, Jimmy. Together they built a long and happy life surrounded by a large circle of friends and family. She attended Salem College in Winston Salem, North Carolina for two years where she made many dear friends and then married Dad on August 27, 1965 at Southside Methodist Church. She then attended the University of Georgia while Dad was finishing school there then graduated from Jacksonville University in 1967 when they returned home to Jacksonville.

Our mother was a force; a social butterfly who could be in two places at one time and have a third stop lined up next! She never met a stranger and wanted your life story from start to finish. She was a respected bridge player and played cards across town in various groups. She could complete the daily crossword puzzle in minutes and was an avid reader. She loved spending time with her sister Pamela and her family and brother who is known around town as Brother. She worshiped at Southside Methodist for most of her life and loved her church and pastors.

Mother was a long time San Jose swim team mom and grandmother and served as team vice president with her great friend Bobby Johnson in the early 80s. She was head timer for many years and head cheerleader always and still could recite our times and splits from our fastest swims. She played tennis at San Jose for over 40 years and made lifelong friends that became more than tennis partners. They traveled from North Carolina to Europe for girls trips but were most at home at lunch every week in the Donald Ross room with Ronnie, Sandrell and Cathy, especially when it was Cupcake Day with Ronnie!

Mother was a dedicated volunteer with the American Cancer Society. She served the organization on the local, state and national level and led the state of Florida in 1998 as Chairman of the Board. She raised funds for the Duval unit and lobbied in Tallahassee and Washington, DC for cancer research and funding. She made amazing friends through the ACS and adored the Pink Computers (fellow national board members from across the country) and the Owls (former Florida board chairs).

She excelled at traveling and Dad always asked us where is your Mother going now?! She was up for any adventure and never minded taking the long way in case it brought a new discovery. She loved Saturdays in the Swamp with her Gator family and traveled the Southeast with the Motorhome Gang going to Gator games and exploring small towns and great restaurants along the way.

She loved being surrounded by her Beach Week family on Amelia Island, especially her dear friend Jackie Klein. She could sit on the beach for hours with her book and friends and loved the late afternoon as the sun was setting. Our unit K2 was always the place to be and she never minded a house full of kids and adults.

Her greatest role in life was that of Grancie to her grandchildren. She made every swim meet, dance recital, school play and birthday party. She loved dressing her grandchildren in matching Kelly’s Kids and smocked clothing and made sure every holiday was magical, most especially Christmas morning.

Mother was predeceased by her parents Ralph and Marie Colbert. She leaves behind two children, Kimberly Tucker Price (Shawn) and James Michael Tucker (Jen) and seven grandchildren: Marie Graham Price, Tucker Logan Price, Abigail Elaine Tucker, Amelia Reese Tucker, Alex Davis, Cameron Davis and Teagan Davis.

She is also survived by her sister Pamela Colbert Baker (Stew) and brother Ralph Cato Colbert, Jr., as well as nieces and nephews Ginger Greaker (Jon), Neely Thomas (Brad) and John Baker (Jen) and their eight children. She will be dearly missed by her best friend Anne Nimnicht and loved all of the Nimnicht family as her own.

We offer our gratitude and thanks to her amazing care team through the years: her dear friend and family physician Dr. Louis J. Larmoyeux, Jr., her oncologist Dr. Bijoy Telivala and nurse April Gibson at Cancer Specialists of North Florida, her caregivers at home, Yolanda Murphy and family and Vernice Lloyd as well as Haven Hospice in her final days.

A memorial service will be held Tuesday, February 11, 2025 at Southside Methodist Church (3120 Hendricks Avenue) at 2:00pm with Pastor Phillip Short officiating with a reception to follow in the Family Life Center. How truly special it will be to celebrate our beloved mother, wife, Grancie and friend to so many at the church where she was married and raised her children. Michael and I are so honored to call her our mom; she was everything to everybody but in the end we realized she was all ours.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions to Southside Methodist Church or the American Cancer Society Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation Hope Lodge in Jacksonville, a place near and dear to Mother’s heart.