By By Stacie D. Cofield
(This week The Atmore Advance spotlights Silas and Juanita Tucker. Mr. Tucker is 78 years old and Mrs. Tucker is 77 years old .)
Q: When and where were you born?
A: (Mrs. Tucker) I was born in Montgomery on July 2, 1929.
(Mr. Tucker) I was born on Dec. 10, 1927 in Mineola at my home.
Q: Who were your parents?
A: (Mrs. Tucker) My father was Robert Benjamin Majors and my mother was Mattie Golden. They were married about 60 years.
(Mr. Tucker) Arthur English Tucker was my father and Sadie Grimms Garrett was my mother and they were married about 48 years.
Q: Did you have any brothers or sisters?
A: (Mrs. Tucker) I have 2 sisters, Patricia Walters and Virginia Hendrix, and one brother, the late Bobby Majors.
(Mr. Tucker) I have one brother and his name is James Arthur Tucker.
Q: Where did you attend high school and college?
A: (Mrs. Tucker) I went to Cobb City Elementary. Then I went to Greenville High School. After I graduated I went to Troy State Teacher's College. That's what it was called back then.
(Mr. Tucker) I went to Mineola Elementary. Then I went to J. U. Blacksher High School. After high school I went to Auburn University. I enlisted in the Navy while I was there and after I was discharged I started Troy State Teacher's College. I think God sent me to Troy to find Nita. While we were in school at Troy we got married and then I transferred back to Auburn and Nita started working.
Q: How did you travel when you were younger?
A: (Mrs. Tucker) When I was in the first grade I remember my father bought a Model A Ford. He sold Singer sewing machines and he would put one in the back seat of the car and take it around to people's houses and try to sell it. That was back during the depression and people had to do anything to earn money.
(Mr. Tucker) Well, when I was little we had a mule and buggy. Then, we moved up to a horse and buggy. Then my father bought a 1937 Ford. He didn't buy it in 1937 though. It was probably 1945 when he bought it.
Q: Do you remember your first vehicle?
A: (Mr. Tucker) It was an Army surplus jeep. Nita and I bought that when we lived in Auburn in about 1950.
Q: What jobs did you hold?
A: (Mrs. Tucker) I worked at a 10-cent store in high school. After Silas and I married, I did bookkeeping in Opelika. When we moved back to Monroe County, I worked for Hendrix Accounting. Then, Silas and I bought a feed store in Uriah about 45 years ago and that's where I worked until we retired.
(Mr. Tucker) Growing up I worked on our farm. Then, in Auburn I delivered newspapers and worked part-time at a grocery store. In 1946 I enlisted in the Navy and was stationed in Muhlenberg College in Muhlenberg, Penn., Great Lakes Naval Station, and New Orleans. When we moved back to Monroe County, I was the principal at Goodway Junior High School for a while.
Then I worked with the Monroe County Board of Education teaching veterans. I was working there when we bought the feed store in Uriah and made it into Tucker's Feed &Seed.
While I was there I was the county commissioner for 12 years and I was president of the water board, but now I am retired.
Q: Did you ever marry?
A: (Mr. Tucker) We met in class while we were at Troy. Back then girls didn't speak to guys first so I spoke to her.
I fell for her the moment I saw her because she was so pretty.
We went to the theater in Troy on our first date. That was about the only thing to do in Troy. We caught a taxi from the school to the theater for only a quarter.
We just celebrated our 58th wedding anniversary Aug. 22.
Q: Do you have any children or grandchildren?
A: (Mrs. Tucker) We have three girls and one boy. Jean lives in Texas, Susan lives in Atmore, and Martha and Garry live in Georgia.
We have 11 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Q: Where do you attend church?
A: (Mr. Tucker) We attend Uriah United Methodist Church. We've been going there for about 44 years.
Q. What keeps you busy these days?
A: (Mrs. Tucker) I like to cut the grass some and work in my flower beds. I am also a member of the Uriah Symposium Club and the Methodist Women's Club
(Mr. Tucker) I look after the cattle and a little farming. I am still a member of the Uriah Water Board and I am on the Board of Directors of the Monroe County Cattlemen's Association
Q. Have you traveled much?
A: We've flown to Alaska to visit our son when his family lived there, but the most traveling we do is to visit our family. We don't take vacations.
Q. What's your favorite television show?
A: (Mrs. Tucker) Our favorite thing to watch is Auburn football. When we are not watching that we watch the Braves games and Fox news. I also like to watch "Wheel of Fortune", "Jeopardy", and "The Price is Right."
Q: What advice do you give to people on staying healthy?
A: (Mrs. Tucker) Stay active, stay involved with the community, church, people, and family, eat right, and remember how to yell "War Eagle".
(Mr. Tucker) Remain active and trust God.
(If you would like to recommend a senior to be spotlighted please contact Stacie Cofield at 368-2123 or e-mail her at composing@atmoreadvance. com.)