Don Harrell Tucker prided himself on his stubbornness and being ornery, but to those who knew him well, he was generous, irreverently funny, patient, and kind. Don was born near Brownwood, Texas – in a tent, in a snowstorm, according to Don. He grew up in Throckmorton, Texas, where he excelled academically as well as on the football field. He attended West Texas State on a football scholarship where he majored in mathematics and physics: football, he says, was merely his ticket out of Throckmorton, not a passion, but he was proud of his team’s victory in the Sun Bowl in 1950. Don married Mavis Hardy, and they moved to Austin for Don to attend graduate school at the University of Texas. In 1958 they moved to Salt Lake City, where Don spent the next 63 years in the mathematics department at the University of Utah. They had three children: Susan, Joe and John. They later divorced. In 1974, Don married Carolyn Connell; they had two children, Catherine and James, and divorced in 1998. After a few years apart, Don and Carolyn reestablished a close friendship.
Don’s areas of research were varied, primarily differential equations and functional analysis. He published extensively and was an invited speaker at numerous conferences in various countries. He won several awards related to mathematics and to service; one of which he was most proud was the Distinguished Teaching Award and Distinguished Honors Professor for the University of Utah in 1980.
Don is survived by his former wife, Carolyn Connell; his children, Susan Van Frank (Kevin), Joseph Tucker (Jackie), John Hardy (Terrie), Catherine Tucker, and James Tucker (Christina); his grandchildren Brenna VanFrank (Ben Yang), Walter VanFrank, Jeffrey Tucker, Elizabeth Viernes (Ethan), Whitney Boyd (Christen), Jane Hardy (Alex Teixeira), Elisabeth Klehr, Peter Klehr, Kaia Tucker, and Noah Tucker (due in June); and by seven great grandchildren.
A memorial open house for Don will be held on Saturday, July 19 from 5:00 – 7:00 PM at Starks Funeral Parlor, 3651 South 900 East, Salt Lake City. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a contribution to the Don H. Tucker Post Doctoral Fellowship in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Utah.
