Joanne Reiner Tucker

Joanne was born Joanne Irene Reiner May 21, 1937 in Portland Oregon to Walter and Edna Reiner. She spent her childhood in Portland. She loved music and played the oboe and the piano. Joanne and her brother Bill lovingly cared for many animals, mostly dogs, and the two of them buried any creature that passed in the yard of their Mt. Tabor home. She had a difficult time when her father was on board a battleship in the Pacific when she was 8 years old, but happily he returned at the end of the war. She learned from her father, Walt, to love practical jokes and learned from her mother, Edna, the love of cooking and entertaining. Joanne fondly remembered many happy afternoons spent hiking and in nature with her parents. This is where she had her greatest connection to God, out in nature.

At age 20, she married George Unterseher. Their daughter Laurie, and son Greg were born in Portland. Many weekends were spent beach combing at Walter and Edna’s second home on the Oregon Coast. The young family moved to Seattle in 1968 and began attending Green Lake church, where Joanne’s father-in-law had been the first pastor and where she made many life long friends. Joanne loved to sing in the choir and listen to the organ at Green Lake.

A new phase of Joanne’s life occurred after a divorce and she married Kenneth R. Tucker, MD in 1980. This union created a blended family, with Ken’s children Scott, Lyn and Mark joining Laurie and Greg. Joanne and Ken were determined that their teenage progeny would become a family, so many happy annual ski vacations were launched. On these annual ski trips, gourmet meals were prepared by all, hilarious games of charades were played, and Joanne loved to watch the “kids” race in the annual “Tuck Cup” ski race. Ken shared his love of sailing with Joanne and she spent many a weekend as a crew member racing small sailboats all over the West Coast. By then, Scott Tucker was a sailboat captain in the Caribbean and Joanne and Ken spent some glorious weeks sailing the British Virgin Islands and the New England coast with him. They also sailed through the San Juan Islands and up the inside passage of Vancouver Island and chartered sailboats many times in various Caribbean locales. She preferred cruising sailboats to racing sailboats, in fact when her husband and son-in-law Ken McEwan convinced her and Laurie to let them jointly buy a sailboat several years ago, she was surprised walking down the dock at Shilshole marina, exclaiming “That’s no cruising sailboat, that’s a racing sailboat!!” The boat had no transom and she was most distressed to be taking her 2 year old grandson for a ride! That boat didn’t stay in the family long.

She loved travel and adventures. Joanne and Ken also traveled to Austria, Costa Rica, China, and Joanne’s favorite place, Hawaii.

Joanne’s blended family grew. Mark Tucker gave her 2 grand-daughters, Krystina and Elizabeth, and the two of them eventually made her a great grandma five times. When her daughter Laurie married Ken McEwan, she happily counted his children Kate and Jameson among her grandchildren.

She was delighted when Laurie gave her a grandson, Scott McEwan on her birthday almost 20 years ago. She said no further birthday gifts were required from Laurie. Recalling this in the hospital a few days before she passed, Joanne said “That was a REALLY big deal”. Scott’s birth was soon followed by Lyn and Larry’s children Imogene and Max Schildwachter, and Greg and Rebecca’s son, Will Unterseher. Joanne delighted in babysitting and spoiling these 4 youngest grandchildren when they were small, and attending their sporting events when they grew older. Her blended family now numbers 5 children, 8 grandchildren and 5 great grand children.

Joanne loved to entertain and cook. Of great importance to her was maintaining a beautiful home where she could welcome and pamper her family and guests. She loved planning celebrations and always wanted to bring the absolute best salad, dessert or other contribution to social gatherings. She was so pleased this past Christmas to have finally mastered a batch of her mother Edna’s Parker House rolls, which her family heartily enjoyed. Her refrigerator and pantry were always brimming, ready to share food, a necessity learned 40 years ago when her teenagers and their friends would regularly raid her fridge.

While living in West Seattle, Joanne began volunteering for Ryther, a center for children and youth needing assistance. She loved to help others, which was how she quietly shared her personal relationship with God. Joanne loved to spend time with friends, knitting and shopping and lunching! Shopping for clothes, a special gift for a friend and even shopping for groceries were favorite pastimes.

Even though Joanne lost some mobility in the past 6 or 7 years, she always had the attitude that “this too shall pass” and was happiest surrounded by her large blended family and friends.

It is clear that one of Joanne’s gifts was friendship. Dozens of people have mentioned that she was their favorite friend, best friend, or second mom.

In lieu of flowers, donations in her name may be sent to: Ryther Child Center League, Development Dept. Ryther, 2400 NE 95th St., Seattle WA 98115