Walter R. Tucker, Jr.

Walter R. Tucker, Jr. (August 27, 1924—October 1, 1990) was a dentist 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.

His rise to the office of mayor is a testament to his persistence. In 1969, he lost a run-off with City Councilman Douglas Dollarhide to become the city's first black 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 succeeded him in a special election held the following year. Another son, Kenneth Tucker unsuccessfully ran to replace his brother after the latter was elected to Congress in 1992.

Walter R. Tucker Jr. was a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. While in dental school at Meharry in Nashville, TN, he met Martha Hinton, a student at Fisk University. They married and had four children: Keta, Walter, 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, OK; 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.