Philip W. Tucker of Palm Coast, FL passed away in his home on July 13, 2026, surrounded by family members at his bedside. Present were his daughters Anne Cress-Tucker of Indianapolis, IN and Jennifer Leopold of Palm City, FL; sons Jeff Tucker of Ludington, MI and Greg Tucker and his wife Amy of Ashville, NC. His “favorite child” Shadow and cat Spooky were also nearby in the home. He joined his eldest son Chris Tucker upon passing.

Phil died the way he lived – doing everything fast, efficiently and with a purpose, thinking of others and making as little trouble as he could. Phil was a master storyteller. He told stories to his slew of visitors up until the point he could no longer talk. Then he listened as his children told his stories for him, which we will continue to do.

Shotgun shooting was Phil’s passion. He started registered skeet shooting in 1973 and was one of the last registered skeet shooters using pump guns exclusively, which adds an extra level of complexity. He loved his Winchester Model 42’s and 12’s. He was the President of the Izaak Walton Club in Southern Indiana starting in 1980 and was instrumental in saving that club in 1988 when their land lease was cancelled. He then shot at Crooked Creek Gun Club in Indianapolis. He obtained many awards for service within the shotgun shooting community.

When Phil moved to Florida, his shooting and service reputation preceded him. He enjoyed shooting for fun with his friends at Flagler County Gun Club and volunteered to help whenever he could. Phil was extremely proud that he was the first person to have his membership accepted at the St. Augustine Rod & Gun Club without a sponsor. After two years, he became the Club President at St. Augustine, and soon after became the Manager. He absolutely loved that club and all the people in it. He had told his children many times that he wanted to manage a gun club in his retirement. It was a position he enjoyed so much he held it for 24 years, retiring just months before his passing, despite having undiagnosed stage 4 pancreatic cancer that had spread to his liver and adrenal gland. He was tough! But as he always said, “Gettin’ old ain’t for sissies!”

Phil had a great childhood “growing up like Tom Sawyer” in his hometown of Wever, Iowa, midway between Burlington and Fort Madison, near the Mississippi River. Always a diligent worker, Phil had various jobs as a kid...paper route, detasseling corn, various farm work, poultry house, working at Sheaffer Pen, and as assistant to the Lee County Engineer. Phil attended a two-room schoolhouse in Wever, then Fort Madison High School, and was the first in his family to graduate college. He paid his own way through from his childhood savings and obtained a Civil Engineering degree from Iowa State University in 1963.

Phil contributed to several important engineering jobs over the years, starting out with Dravo Construction Division. He worked on the I-70 bridge over the Mississippi River in St. Louis; the Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan East Center Pier Foundation; Lock and Dam in Fort Smith Arkansas; Interstate 280 bridge in Davenport, Iowa; and others, settling his family in Evansville, IN when he came to work on the Newburgh, IN Dam. Phil then managed Baker Inc. Construction from 1975-1988. He worked in Indianapolis for Circle B Construction from 1988-1992. Finally, Phil transferred to Palm Coast, Florida, with EI Brown Architects to work on five schools, including Buddy Taylor Middle School, Bunnell Elementary, and Daytona Beach Community College Vocational School. His final "building project" was building the first skeet field at the then-new Flagler County Gun Club.

Phil was extremely proud that all his children and grandchildren graduated from college, several with advanced degrees. He felt education was like climbing a ladder – the higher you wanted to be in life meant the higher wrung you needed to step off at. He learned this partially from watching his father struggle through life with only an eighth-grade education. His children and others learned the value of hard work from Phil.

Phil gave more back to this world than he took from it and will be sorely missed. Phil loved meeting and helping his neighbors. In lieu of flowers or donations, please honor Phil by doing something nice for your neighbor and/or spreading his love of shooting sports through training and supporting new shooters.

For condolences, and sharing any stories we may not have heard, please reach out to his daughter who will share with other family members.

Jennifer Leopold
173 SW Hatteras Ct.
Palm City, FL 34990
jen@graniteridge.us
908-208-8569