David Elva Tuck, 84, of Star, went to meet The Lord on August 27, 2015, at home surrounded by his loving family and under the care of Heart and Home Hospice. He was born January 6, 1931, in Gretna, Virginia, to Lester and Mary Keen Tuck where he spent his childhood going to school, working tobacco fields and hopping trains with his friends. He was married to Sandee Vandeventer on January 15, 1965, in Guam. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary earlier this year. He served in the Air Force for 20 years, and received numerous awards, including the Air Force Commendation Medal, the Presidential Unit Citation, and multiple Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards. After retiring from the Air Force, He worked structural steel in Hampton, Virginia, and later worked for the school districts in Salmon and Hailey Idaho. He loved horse shoes, golf, cards, and bowling. He enjoyed bowling as much for the friendships as the sport and earned a state championship. One of his favorite pastimes was having coffee with his closest friends in the morning at The Coffee Shop in Salmon. Often seen there with him were John Duke, Gary Bevan, Gene Risbon, and Mark Phillips. He was obsessed with consuming M&M's, chocolate Kisses, Oreo cookies, and Pepsi. If you were ever with him while ordering at a restaurant, you would cringe in expectancy of a scene if the waitress asked him if a Coke was okay instead of Pepsi. He would often spend all day working in the yard, gardening, and feeding wild animals until they would eat from his hand. A neighbor walking by one day, asked why his corn was always so much bigger than hers. He whispered his secret to her that pruning the surrounding sucker stalks that were stunting the main stalks was the key. This left a life lesson in the mind of his young son that this often applies to things in our lives as well. He was often quiet but never far from a wise crack. His humor was quick and to the point. He was constantly coming up with funny sayings the family would fondly refer to as "Fafa-isms," as he was lovingly known to his grandkids as Fafa. One of the family's favorites was, "Oh, yeah... park'n in the shade." His quiet personality didn't stop him from often proclaiming the gospel in love through his acts of kindness and generosity to the broken and less fortunate, no matter how little he had for himself. A pastor once reflected on a time when he had fallen, and everyone had forsaken him and his friendship. He said Dave was the only person to show him kindness and forgiveness at a time when he needed it most. He is survived by his wife, Sandee Tuck; sister, Nancy Nicholes; children, Dorie (Clay) Hobbs, Debbie Rice, David (Kay) Tuck, Kathy Hampton, Davoe Dazelle, Terre (Jennifer) Tuck, Tami (Paul) Dupuis, Tracy Tuck; fifteen grandchildren and fourteen great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents; two sisters, Dorothy Morris and Doris Hodge; and two brothers, Bobby and Clyde Tuck. The family wish to express their gratitude to Heart and Home Hospice Care and to all of the family and friends who gave so much support in their time of need. If Dave could have left one last message with us, it would have been to persevere in the Lord, love your family more than yourself, and stand for what's right no matter what everyone else thinks or how many times you falter. Services were held Tuesday, September 1 at the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery, 10100 North Horseshoe Bend Road in Boise. Please give to Heart of Home Hospice care or Wounded Warrior Project in lieu of flowers. Service: 11 a.m. Tuesday, September 1, 2015 Graveside at the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery
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