Billy Gene Tucker

Billy Gene Tucker, 78, of Benton, passed away on Jan. 5, 2017 at the Saline Memorial Hospice House in Bryant, following a valiant battle against cancer. A lifelong resident of the Little Rock area, he was born just before his twin sister Betty Jane on May 22, 1938, to Clyde and Lillie Tucker of Mabelvale. The family lived on Mabelvale Pike, and he grew up running with his older brothers along the Fourche Creek bottoms. He attended Mabelvale schools and graduated from Mabelvale High School. A member of the class of 1956, he was voted Most Athletic, playing baseball, football, and, on the strength of his fade-away jump shot, made the all-county team in basketball. After high school, he joined the U.S. Army Reserve and was a member of the Match Rifle team. He began his business career at Union National Bank in Little Rock, working the night shift in the transit room, compiling the day's transactions. Another duty was returning bad checks to local businesses and government offices and exchanging them for cash. This was all done by hand in the 1950s, and he told of strolling around downtown from store to store and down to the courthouse, returning checks and walking back to the bank with a briefcase full of cash. "It wasn't unusual to carry the briefcase back to the bank, by myself, with $50,000 in it," he said. "Can you imagine a bank letting that happen today?" He left the banking business in 1960 to work as a field engineer for National Cash Register. He started out repairing mechanical cash registers, and when he retired 34 years later, he was working on computerized registers, bank machines, and scanners, making many lifelong friends along the way. He was never idle. He loved to tinker, rebuilding and restoring things like furniture, guns, and a solid brass cash register. He loved to hunt and fish, spending hours in the woods and on the water with family and friends alike, most especially with his nephew, Don Tucker. He was in the stand with both of his grandsons when they got their first deer and nobody was happier for them than him. He loved to take kids fishing to see their excitement when their bobber ducked under the water, and even in his last months, he got as excited as an eight-year-old about a big catfish he caught. He loved to water ski and taught lots of kids, spending hours in the boat pulling them one after another. He loved to bowl and did so competitively for years at alleys all over the Little Rock area. The bowling was fun, but his favorite part was the friendship and time spent with his bowling buddies. He was always ready to help friends or family with a project, spending hours remodeling houses and repairing cars, and he was one of the first to check on a sick friend and see what he could do for them. He will be missed by many. He was preceded in death by his parents and a brother, Ed Tucker. He is survived by his wife, Julie Mahan Tucker of Benton, his son Bill Tucker Jr and wife Karen of Lonsdale, his stepson Billy Mahan and wife Tiffany of Benton, his stepdaughter Robin Pfaff and husband David of Seattle, his brother Carroll Tucker, and his sister Betty Duff, both of Little Rock. He is also survived by his grandchildren, Sam Tucker, Rachel Tucker, Trea Mahan, and Lexi Mahan. He leaves behind a host of nephews and nieces, cousins, and friends to cherish his memory. Pallbearers are Sam Tucker, Trea Mahan, Billy Mahan, Kelly Tucker, Daniel Tucker, and Ralph Brink Jr. Honorary pallbearers are all of his bowling buddies and old friends from NCR. A Visitation/Reception will be held on Sunday from 2-4 p.m. at Smith-Benton Funeral Home. Funeral service will be held at 10 a.m., Monday, Jan. 9, 2017 at Smith-Benton Funeral Home with burial at Philadelphia Cemetery in Prattsville, Ark. Service entrusted to Smith-Benton Funeral Home. Online guestbook: www.SmithFamilyCares.com.