LEADERSHIP OF FIRST BAPTIST DANVILLE 2ND AND WALNUT, REQUIRES EVERYONE TO WEAR A MASK WHEN ENTERING THE CHURCH.
FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS BY SMITH & SMITH FUNERAL HOME
DATE: SEPTEMBER 9, 2022
TIME: 12:15 PM
PLACE: FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH - 200 W. WALNUT STREET - DANVILLE, KENTUCKY
VISITATION: 11:00AM UNTIL TIME OF SERVICE
BURIAL: CAMP NELSON NATIONAL CEMETERY
SERVICE WILL BE LIVE STREAMED @ www.joinobit.com/obituaries/2773 CLICK ON LIVESTREAM Smith Jackson Facebook page also
William “Billy” Lawrence Tucker, Sr, went home to be with God on August 16, 2022. Billy was the son of the late Corinne (Frye) Rankins and Roscoe Tucker, Sr., and was born in Boyle County on March 12, 1933. He was preceded in death by his younger sisters Geraldine (Tucker) Smith and Shirley (Tucker) Bracken, and brother Roscoe Tucker, Jr.
As a youngster, Billy accepted Jesus Christ as his savior, where he attended Reverend P.A. Carter’s First Baptist Church of Danville, and in 1945 he joined the church’s Boy Scout troop 154. He eventually moved his membership to Takoma Park Baptist Church in Washington, DC, where he became a member of its men’s ministry and served on the budget committee. Billy also joined the Free Masons of Felix Lodge No. 3 and became a Master Mason in 1975.
Billy is a 1951 graduate of Bate High School where he played sports and participated in theater. He never forgot his Bulldog family; in 1989, he was the keynote speaker of the Bate high school reunion where he delivered a speech themed, Protect Civil Rights.
After high school, he joined the United States Air Force to eventually achieve the rank of Staff Sergeant during the Korean War from 1952-56. After receiving an honorable discharge from the Air Force, Billy played baseball with the Danville Yankees until earning an athletic scholarship to attend Central State University and continuing to play baseball. Due to financial hardship, he left Central State but he never gave up his pursuit of a college degree. In 1972, Billy earned his BS from American University.
His choices as a young man continued to serve him well as he was later hired by Washington, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department as a patrolman in 1959. During his tenure, he rose through the ranks to achieve the level of Captain, and finally Inspector before retiring in 1979. After leaving MPD, Billy was hired by the University of Pittsburgh as the Director of Public Safety and security from 1980-88. He earned his Master’s in Public Administration from Pitt in 1987 where he also became an adjunct Instructor. Billy returned to the Washington, DC area where he served as Director of Public Safety at Georgetown University from 1988-2003. Later in 2003, Billy joined the Prince George’s County(MD) Police Department as Deputy Chief until ending his career. In May 2021, Billy was honored by the Danville-Boyle County African American Historical Society and given the key to the city by Mayor Mike Perros. Billy was an avid golfer and played in Heroes pro-am tournaments in 1977 and 1978, winning the amateur division in 1978. The Heroes tournament is a fundraiser for families of fallen police officers and firemen.
Billy was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 62 years, Marian (Overstreet), and is survived by his two children, William Lawrence Tucker, Jr. and Sherry Tucker of Adelphi, MD, 14 nephews, 15 nieces, great-nieces, great-nephews, cousins, and friends.
