James Le-Ellsworth Tucker

Jim was the middle child born to parents Col. Rev. James E. Tucker and Catherine (Crossno) Tucker. He was born on August 19, 1944 in Boca Raton, Florida. In 1946, his family voluntarily moved to Germany due to the lack of Army chaplains following WWII. After their service there, the family moved back to the U.S. to Green Bay, Wisconsin, where Jim was proud to grow up. He loved living in the parish house, the close-knit community, riding his bike all day into night with friends, and it’s when his life-long love for the Green Bay Packers began.

Later, his family moved to Ohio, and then settled in Macon, Georgia when Jim was in high school. Jim met Carol Johnson at a church youth group event. Jim had a broken ankle in a cast when he asked her to move so he could take her seat to prop up his casted leg. This started a relationship that eventually led to marriage after Jim graduated from Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama. Jim began his career with the Department of Defense as a computer programmer. Their eldest daughter was born while they lived in Montgomery. Jim had great fun teaching her to yell, “Roll Tide!” They transferred to several places afterwards but settled at the Rock Island Arsenal, in Rock Island, Illinois. Their youngest daughter was born while the family lived in Illinois. He taught computer languages at A.M.E.T.A. and all over the country for almost two decades and made many dear friends through work. Jim and Carol bought their first house in 1976 on the Iowa side of the Quad Cities.

In December 1981, Jim requested a transfer to Germany after he and Carol went for Jim’s business trip months before and loved it. The family arrived in time to celebrate Christmas, and all that Germany had to offer at the holidays. During the three-year tour, the family traveled extensively throughout Europe, made many friends, both American and German, learned about different cultures and customs, and enjoyed the cuisine! They were sad to leave when their tour was completed. Jim and Carol stayed in the U.S. for three years, married off their eldest, put their youngest in college, and returned to Germany for five more fun years, without their daughters! Jim bought a red convertible Miata, and they enjoyed the years of Autobahn countryside driving!

When they returned to Iowa in 1993, Jim worked at the Computer Mega Center on the R.I. Arsenal. In 1995, Jim started his own business, Computer Meister, so he could write software for his son-in-law’s electronics company. It was an exciting challenge as Jim had to learn all about drag racing and a race car’s challenges with electronic components. He enjoyed the work very much and was enthusiastic about going into work. He once took one of the microprocessors for a Delay Box to the Arsenal to show his colleagues what he had to put his program in. It was so small compared to everything they all were used to working on. He retired from the DoD as Head of the Computer Mega Center in 1999. He started doing consulting work for the DoD computer centers under his Computer Meister business and made several business trips around the country. He completely retired in 2023. He was successfully fighting prostate cancer for two years when he was diagnosed with another aggressive cancer that attacked his lymph nodes, bones, and lungs, in early 2026. The two cancers combined were too much and Jim passed away April 30, 2026.

He loved his work with computers but more than that, he loved playing golf (making a hole-in-one once), traveling, reading, good food, wine, both Iowa and Iowa State sports, music, cooking, telling story after story, world news, history, his church, politics, watching financial news, watching Packers football, going to Packers games, meeting retired Packers, watching and being a part of his two wonderful grandsons’ lives! After having two daughters he loved watching his two grandsons grow up.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his sister, Annette and her husband, James Maxey, PhD, of Atlanta; and two brothers-in-law on Carol’s side, both of Georgia. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Carol, Bettendorf; daughters, Cathy (Dwain) May, of Davenport, Iowa; and Rebecca Williams of St. Louis, Missouri; grandsons Benjamin (Caroline) Williams of Des Moines, Iowa; Christopher Williams of Chicago, Illinois; brother (Ret) Lt. Col. Gwynn Tucker and his wife (Ret) Maj. MaryBeth Arenz of Indianapolis, Indiana; two sisters-in-law on Carol’s side, both of Georgia; and several nieces and nephews.

The funeral service for Jim will be Sunday, May 31, 2026, at 1:00pm, at the Summit of Bettendorf, 4th Floor, 4699 53rd Avenue, Bettendorf, Iowa 52722. A private family lunch will follow. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in memory of Jim to the First Presbyterian Church Food Pantry, 1702 Iowa Street, Davenport, Iowa 52803.