Walter Rayford Tucker Jr. (August 27, 1924 – October 1, 1990) was an American dentist and politician who served nine years as the Mayor of

Compton, California Compton is a city in southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, situated south of downtown Los Angeles. Compton is one of the oldest cities in the county and, on May 11, 1888, was the eighth city in Los Angeles County to incorporat ...

Biography

Walter Rayford Tucker, Jr. was born in

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

. He became a dentist and moved to

in the 1950s. Later he was elected to the City Council. In 1969, he lost a run-off with City Councilman

Douglas Dollarhide Douglas Dollarhide (March 11, 1923 – June 28, 2008) was an American politician, notable for serving as the first African American mayor of Compton, California. Biography Douglas F. Dollarhide witnessed first hand the transformation of C ...

to become the city's first African American mayor. Eight years later, Tucker lost a close race against Lionel Cade for the same position. Finally in 1981, he came back to decisively defeat Cade. He went on to serve nine years as mayor until his death from stomach cancer at the age of 66. His son,

Walter R. Tucker III Walter Rayford Tucker III (born May 28, 1957) is an American politician and minister who served as mayor of Compton and a U.S. Representative from California. Parents and education Tucker was born in Compton, California, the son of Walter R. Tu ...

, succeeded him in a special election held the following year. Another son, Kenneth, unsuccessfully ran to replace his brother after the latter was elected to Congress in 1992.

Personal life

Tucker Jr. was a member of

Omega Psi Phi Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African-American fraternity. The fraternity was founded on November 17, 1911, by three Howard University juniors Edgar Amos Love, Oscar James Cooper and Frank Coleman, and their faculty advi ...

fraternity. While attending Meharry Medical College School of Dentistry in Nashville, Tennessee, he met Martha Hinton, a student at

Fisk University Fisk University is a private historically black liberal arts college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1866 and its campus is a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1930, Fisk was the first Africa ...

. They married and had four children: Keta,

Walter Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...

, Kenneth and Camille. It is noted that Tucker came from a family of educators. His father was principal of the local high school in

Haskell, Oklahoma Haskell is a town in Muskogee County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 2,007 at the 2010 census, a gain of 13.7 percent over the figure of 1,765 recorded in 2000. Haskell was established in 1904 on the Midland Valley Railroad. It was na ...

. His mother was a teacher there. Out of eight children, all obtained college degrees. Tucker and two of his brothers were doctors and five other siblings obtained master's degrees and became educators. Circa 1970 Tucker bought land and built a medical building with his brothers, Booker T., an oral surgeon, and S. Edward, an OBGYN. At the time, they were in a small group of African American doctors in Los Angeles who owned their own medical building. Serving the Watts community for many years, the brothers finally sold the building in the 80's and the area was redeveloped into a strip mall. In addition to practicing dentistry and holding political office, Tucker served as an Associate Pastor at Zion Baptist Church.

References

1924 births 1990 deaths African-American mayors in California Mayors of Compton, California 20th-century African-American scientists 20th-century American scientists Meharry Medical College alumni 20th-century American politicians 20th-century African-American politicians {{California-mayor-stub