Harley Hamilton Tuck Sr.

Harley Hamilton Tuck Sr. was born Aug. 24, 1924, to Irene (Grover) and Merle C. Tuck, Sr. in Yakima, Wash. He died June 29, 2010 in Spokane. He joined the Army Air Corp at the age of 17 and flew in a B-17 as radio operator during World War II. He was shot down on his 28th over Germany and spent 14 months in POW camp in Austria.

Inspired by fellow prisoners, he returned to Yakima to and complete high school. He went to college at Washington State University. He graduated with a degree in agriculture. He married Miriam Colvard in 1951 and returned to WSU for a degree in vocational education. He taught at Kittitas High School (Washington) for six years.

Harley served as agricultural missionary through American Baptist Foreign Mission Society in Chiengmai, Thailand for seven years, and then through the United Nations in Thailand, Afghanistan and Indonesia. When he moved to Jakarta, Indonesia, he married Caroline Lontoh in 1976. He continued agricultural outreach through the U.N. and his church.

After the death of his wife in 1998, he returned to the U.S. and resided in Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church, Coeur d’Alene, and the American Legion. He received the Lifetime Achievement Award from WSU. in 2005. He had just finished writing a book about his life.

Harley is survived by his daughter Randi Currey of Post Falls; son Harley Jr. of Portland, Ore.; daughter Robyn Schlenker of Oak Ridge, Tenn.; and daughter Noel Christiansen of Strawberry Plains, Tenn.; stepdaughter Dilly Manurung of Jakarta; and stepsons Stanley Lontoh of Jakarta and Dave Lontoh of Los Angeles; 15 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.

A celebration of life will be held at a later date.