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.

Biography

Walter Rayford Tucker, Jr. was born in Oklahoma. He became a dentist and moved to Compton, California in the 1950s. Later he was elected to the City Council. In 1969, he lost a run-off with City Councilman Douglas Dollarhide to become the city's first

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

mayor. Eight years later, Tucker lost a close race against

Lionel Cade Lionel B. Cade (August 14, 1918 – April 3, 1990) was an American accountant who served as mayor of Compton, California, from 1977 until 1981. Biography Cade was born in Hardin County, Texas, on August 14, 1918, the son of Charley and Virginia ...

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 Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

at the age of 66. His son, Walter R. Tucker III, succeeded him in a special election held the following year. Another son,

Kenneth Kenneth is an English given name and surname. The name is an Anglicised form of two entirely different Gaelic personal names: ''Cainnech'' and '' Cináed''. The modern Gaelic form of ''Cainnech'' is ''Coinneach''; the name was derived from a byn ...

, 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 fraternity. While attending

Meharry Medical College School of Dentistry The School of Dentistry is a dental school within Meharry Medical College located in the United States city of Nashville, Tennessee. History Meharry Medical College School of Dentistry is a part of Meharry Medical College. The school was establ ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

, he met Martha Hinton, a student at Fisk University. 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 ...

. 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