Catherine Verine Tucker

Born Catherine Verine Lang in 1919 into a farm family near Grenora in the far North West corner of North Dakota, “Kay” was the sixth of fourteen children. In the 1920’s she and her family enjoyed the prosperity of those times. However things dramatically changed when both the Great Depression and a severe drought forced the family to leave their home and relocate the farm in eastern North Dakota. Because of hard times, at an early age, Kay and some of her sisters had to leave the family to support themselves. Kay stayed behind to work in Grenora. While these events were difficult, they also brought the family closer together, a bind that only became stronger as the decades passed.

During the War in 1942, Kay left Grenora and went to Renton Washington where she went to work at Boeing building B-29 bombers. There she met her future husband Curtis Tucker. Both were fun loving and perfectly matched. After he was discharged from the Army they were married in Santa Monica and started life together in 1946. While Curtis went back to work at Douglas Aircraft, Kay found employment at Voi-Shan, an aircraft fastener company. She worked there until giving birth to their only child Curtis Tucker Jr. in 1951. Two years later in 1953, they bought a home on Lake Street in West Los Angeles where she would live for the next 57 years. When Curtis Jr. started attending grade school she went back to work, first as a sales associate for twenty years at W.T. Grant and later at J.C. Penney’s until she retired in 1987.

As a wife and mother, Kay enjoyed an active life with friends and family. She loved flowers and spent many hours working in her garden. Holiday gatherings were split with her sister’s families and many family vacations were taken back to the family farm in North Dakota. As a couple, Kay and Curtis also made memorable trips to Hawaii where another sister and her family lived. After the passing of Curtis Sr. in 1989, she continued to be active, joining senior groups and taking trips with them. She attended plays at the Music Center and other events with her weekly Bridge Club that she played with for over fifty years. She enjoyed horse racing and always looked forward to her Bridge Club’s yearly stay-over trip to Del Mar Race Track. She had fun with her two grandchildren, daughter-in-law and son and would spend weekends and take family travel vacations with them. She continued to drive well into her late 80’s and lived independently in her home until she had a stroke at age 91, in 2010.

Always fun to be around, Kay was an independent woman who will be missed very much but who also leaves behind many wonderful stories and lasting memories. She is survived by her son Curtis, daughter-in-law Judy, and her grandchildren Stephanie and Steven.