Howard "Chip" Tucker

Howard “Chip” Tucker of Elmwood Park, IL. was born on March 8, 1947, to the late William N. Tucker and late Kathe Martha (nee Stradtman) Tucker and passed away May 9, 2026. Chip was the beloved husband of Renee (nee Reed) Tucker; loving father of Traci (Michael) Dente and Scott (Kristyn) Decourcey; devoted papa/popi of Brooklynn Dente and Harper Decourcey; dear brother of Ellen (Thomas) Gnoyke and the late Glen (Joan) Tucker; fond uncle to many nieces and nephews.

Howard “Chip” Tucker spent his life doing the unexpected, starting on day one. He was born weighing just over two pounds, so small that the doctor referred to him as “just a little chip,” thereby assigning him a nickname for life. In addition to being small, Chip was also blind from birth, but it never stopped him. Chip grew up in Chicago and loved playing cards, riding on the back of his siblings bikes, and the regular visits to see his mom’s family in small-town Minnesota. One of his favorite activities on those trips was shelling corn.

Chip’s dad introduced him to what would become one of his great loves - the Chicago Cubs. Chip was an avid Cub fan, being a season ticket-holder and bleacher bum since the 1960s. He would sit in the bleachers, listen to the play-by-play on the radio he brought to every game, and thoroughly enjoyed the feel of the stadium. He and his friends were well known in the bleachers, at times annoying fellow fans with their cow bells. A blind character in the play “Bleacher Bums” has been rumored to be a cameo of Chip and his best friend. Chip knew Wrigley Field so well that when taking sighted relatives to a game, he once insisted they were going the wrong way because that stairs felt too bouncy. They disagreed, but he was of course right.

While the Cubs were Chip’s first love, his wife Renee, who he married in 1996 was his great love. She is also an avid baseball fan, but her allegiance at the time was to the White Sox. This was something Chip always struggled to understand and eventually partially cracked. In the last decades of Chip’s life, one of his great pleasures was being grandpa to two granddaughters.

Visitation Friday May 15, 2026, from 9:30am until time of service 11am at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church 1234 N. Arlington Heights Rd Arlington Heights, IL. 60004.Reception to follow services. Interment private.

In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital at stjude.org. Funeral info 847-253-5423