Patricia Tuck

Patricia Tuck, December 20th, 1941 – June 25th, 2021
Perseverance, Service, Inspiration
Patricia (don’t call her Pat) Larraine Tuck, known as Trish by her loving sisters, died at the age of 79 on June 25th, 2021, in Greenville, South Carolina, due to heart failure.
Patricia was born in Jacksonville, Florida to Mr. Bennett Freeman Jackson, Jr. and Mrs. Josephine Bachelor Raines, less than two weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor which launched our great nation into the second World War. At birth, she suffered serious birth defects from Congenital Rubella Syndrome, a condition that occurs in a baby whose mother is infected with the rubella virus usually in the first three months of pregnancy. She was born with multiple visual defects resulting in total blindness and congenital heart disease and was given a prognosis of three to five years of life, at most.
After outliving all previous projections, in 1949 at the age of seven, she underwent a serious heart operation performed by an innovative pioneer in the field of cardiac surgery, Dr. Alfred Blalock, at John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. Recovery took more than a year. This newfound hope also brought the opportunity to undergo a series of surgeries on her eyes that gave her vision. Although she gained vision, the trauma of eye surgery would permanently damage her eyes, and she was legally blind for the rest of her life.
At the age of twelve, Patricia was excited to “be a big girl so I can go to school” and was enrolled in the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, a boarding school in St. Augustine, Florida. After graduating high school in 1962, she attended St. Johns River Junior College in Palatka, Florida in 1964, despite her father’s opposition to educating women. She went on to Florida Junior college and graduated in 1967 with an Associate of Arts degree. Next, she enrolled at Florida State University in Tallahassee for one semester but quickly transferred over to the University of Florida, where she majored in Spanish and minored in Secondary Education. After attending the University of Florida in Gainesville for two years, she left when they would not grant her teaching certificate because she was blind. In 1971, Patricia was granted her teaching certificate from Jacksonville University and became certified in teaching Spanish secondary education; however, she was unable to find a job due to her visual impairment. In 1972, she was able to convince the State of South Carolina to pay for her post-graduate education at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan in exchange for an employment agreement that would bring her to South Carolina to assist in setting up a program with the South Carolina Commission for the Blind.
For the next 25 years, Patricia gave her life to those in need through her work with the blind in South Carolina and through her voluntary work with the National Federation of the Blind. Patricia spent her vocational career teaching rehabilitation to newly-blinded adults, including personal adjustment, acceptance of their new reality, and even acquisition of more complex skills. With the goal of teaching these individuals to be independent, she was involved in decision-making that affected their functional success in life. Additionally, she carried out public relations work, and provided training to other professionals; she replicated herself, her knowledge, and her skills to maximize the impact that she could have on society. After she retired from the State of South Carolina, she moved back to Florida to pursue a passion for breeding Chihuahuas. In 2016 she moved back to Greenville, South Carolina with her husband of nearly 40 years, so that her devoted son and his loving wife could take care of them in their advanced age.
Patricia was a lifelong member of the National Federation of the Blind, the oldest and largest organization led by blind people in the United States, which refers to itself as "the voice of the nation's blind." Patricia adopted the organization’s philosophy that “blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back.” The NFB works to promulgate its philosophy by educating and recruiting new members, working to educate the general public, and interacting with legislators and policymakers at the local, state, and national levels. Patricia took an active role in promoting this philosophy by recruiting new members, establishing and supporting local chapters and the State Organization, and through education.
Patricia was the oldest of her siblings. She is survived by her husband of 45 years, Bill Tuck of Greenville, South Carolina; her wonderful and only son, Neil Tuck, 43, of Greenville, South Carolina and his fabulous wife of 14 years, Ashley Tuck, of Greenville, South Carolina; her remarkable twin grandsons, Jackson and Beason Tuck; her sisters, Diane Carolyn Strickland, of Jacksonville, Florida, and Jo Ann Hatcher of Starke, Florida.
Patricia was predeceased in 2019 by her youngest and only brother, John Jackson of Clay County, Florida.
Though it did not define who she was, the determinate characteristic of Patricia Tuck’s life was her visual impairment; this challenge always made every aspect of her life exponentially more difficult. To compound that challenge, she began experiencing a progressive hearing loss which resulted in the complete loss of all hearing and forced her to retire early from the vocation she loved – rehabilitation teaching for newly blinded adults. Hers was a life of service to others; she loved to teach, she loved to help others become independent enough to help themselves, and she had a particular passion for anyone vulnerable. Her zeal for hard work and independence was contagious, and all those she touched were always better because of it. Her life was an inspiration to those who knew her story, and she never let any of the many challenges she faced throughout her life hold her back. Those who knew her and love her will miss her. The world is at a loss without her fortitude and spirit of service to others.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in memory of Patricia to the National Federation of the Blind of South Carolina. Security, Equality, Opportunity
119 S Kilbourne Road, Columbia, SC 29205; 803.254.3777; NFBSC@SC.RR.com