In memoriam: Margaret Tucker

(December 23, 1923-October 4, 2016)

Bowling Green State University mourns the loss of Margaret Tucker, 92, who pioneered educational programming outreach to northwest Ohio school districts as the first director of the Northwest Ohio Education Technology Foundation. Mrs. Tucker was an ardent supporter of WBGU-TV, founded at BGSU by her husband, Dr. Duane Tucker, and was a familiar face at the station as she co-hosted fund drives with her husband for many years.

Mrs. Tucker and Dr. Tucker shared a lifetime commitment to television and telecommunications as an important means of delivering education and instruction. In 1994, the University named the Margaret J. and Dr. Duane E. Tucker Center for Telecommunications in their honor.

She was born in Mt. Hope, Kansas, to Otie and Harol Kissick, two parents who fervently believed in education. Mrs. Tucker was valedictorian of her high school and attended Colorado Women’s College on a scholarship before transferring to and graduating from Kansas State Teacher’s College in Emporia, Kansas, as an English and speech major.

It was in Emporia where she met and married Duane Tucker, later moving to Wisconsin and then to Oregon. In 1959, the Tuckers arrived in Bowling Green, where Dr. Tucker established public broadcasting station WBGU-TV in 1964. After settling in Bowling Green, Mrs. Tucker was the director of women’s programming for radio station WFOB-AM and had a popular weekday radio show called “Coffee Time” from 1962-70, before being named director of In-School TV for what became the Northwest Ohio Educational Technology Foundation (NWOET) in 1970.

A specialist in instructional media programming, Margaret Tucker skillfully guided NWOET as it grew to serve more than 150 school systems with educational programming and computer services. Housed at the Tucker Center, NWOET provides daily contact between BGSU and school districts and remains dedicated to helping students and their teachers locate and use the best classroom teaching tools and resources available.

TV programs that Mrs. Tucker created were highly regarded, including “News Six,” a weekly news program written and performed by sixth-grade students, which received the Ohio Educational Broadcasting Award (1986) and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting Award (1987), as well as “Knowing About Growing,” a primary health series, which received the Central Educational Network Award in 1974.

Under Mrs. Tucker’s directorship, NWOET continued to grow, necessitating a 6,000-square-foot addition to the WBGU-TV building to house NWOET operations in 1981. She also oversaw the start of the computerization age at NWOET as the foundation provided access and instruction for local school systems. The Computer Resource Center that Mrs. Tucker established in 1982, which provided member schools with computer service, became one of the most widely used services of the foundation. After her retirement from NWOET in 1985, Mrs. Tucker continued to assist the new director, Sally Blair.

An honorary member of WBGU-TV’s Public Advisory Board, Mrs. Tucker was a strong supporter of the station, said Tina Simon, co-general manager of WBGU.

“Margaret Tucker was a great friend and a warm and vibrant person. We’ll miss her enthusiasm and dedication,” Simon said. “The Tuckers’ vision shaped WBGU into what we know it as today.”

In 1972, Mrs. Tucker became the first woman to be named by the Ohio governor to the All-Ohio School Board, appointed to that honorary body by Gov. John Gilligan. BGSU presented her its Merit Award in 1975 and the Abe Lincoln Award for her outstanding broadcast work. She was honored by the city of Bowling Green in 1985, the year of her retirement, when she was named BG’s Outstanding Citizen.   

Mrs. Tucker was active in Ohio educational media and library associations, on local school boards and in civic organizations. Even throughout her retirement, she was a prominent figure in the city of Bowling Green, serving in leadership roles in many community organizations, including the local League of Women Voters. She and her husband co-chaired the Wood County District Public Library’s capital improvement fund committee, which raised $800,000. She also served on boards of the Public Advisory Council for Television, Wood County Council on Alcoholism, Drug Abuse and Mental Health, and the boards of education for both Bowling Green City Schools and Penta.  

The Tuckers also were strong supporters of the BGSU College of the Musical Arts, and Mrs. Tucker and Dr. Tucker both at times served as president of ProMusica, the society of friends, alumni and community members dedicated to the support of BGSU music students. The couple also were honored by BGSU in 1989 as Dr. Tucker served as grand marshal of the Homecoming parade during a weekend of celebrations that were television-themed.

A passionate advocate of the natural world, Mrs. Tucker also served many years on the BG Parks and Recreation Board and played a key role in the development of the Foundation, which was an independent fundraising board. During her tenure as president of the Foundation, the nearly $1.2 million raised during a five-year campaign was instrumental in funding Simpson Garden Park. She also played a large part in the development of St. John’s Nature Preserve and the campaigns that added Bordner Meadow and Twyman Woods, as well as saving Tucker Woods’ 19 acres from being developed.  

Her final community mission resulted in a series of community meetings after which the BGSU trustees voted to preserve the public television station. “Margaret and Duane made WBGU-TV a family, a wonderful place to be and work,” said Ron Gargasz, former director of Broadcast Services at WBGU.

She was preceded in death in 2008 by her husband, Duane, whom she married on Sept. 15, 1945, and by granddaughter Colby Marfin. She is survived by son Todd Tucker, daughter Maggie Laughlin, granddaughters Jamie Vorzimmer and Vanessa Meraki, and great-grandchildren Viva, Susse, Varick, Joaquin and Amal.  

A celebration of life party for Margaret Tucker took place at the Tucker Center for Telecommunications on Nov. 13, 2016.