Former Spokanite moves to Ritzville

RITZVILLE - Last October Rich Tucker, 62, relocated from Spokane to this small rural community, and he's glad he did.

Tucker was born in Newport, Washington, but "we lived all over the country while my dad was in the Navy," he said. Tucker's father worked on nuclear submarines as the "COB" (Chief of the Boat), the senior enlisted advisor to the Commanding Officer officer (CO) and Executive Officer (XO).

"My dad started buying land outside Newport in 1969," he said. By the time his father retired from the Navy, the family owned over 350 acres and operated a logging business. "We also farmed 90 acres in hay using the world's oldest farm equipment-Model A and Model B John Deere tractors."

In 1975, when he was 15 years old, Tucker nearly lost his life. He severed his left leg at the ankle in a logging accident. "It was cut clear through the bone and was barely hanging by some tendons," he said. "I dang near bled to death before I got to town. Luckily, my dad's friend threw a boot lace on my leg and drove me to Newport. Then my dad dragged me all the way to Fairchild Air Force base-an hour and a half drive. God must have a plan for my life because I should've died."

With logging no longer an option, Tucker set his sights on becoming a disc jockey.

"Mom listened to KJR, channel 95, on the AM radio. The disc jockeys at that time included Gary Lockwood, Pat O'Day, and Ichabod Caine-all superstars in radio," he said. "As a kid, I thought (working as a DJ) would be about the best job I could ever do."

In high school, Tucker pursued that dream.

"Newport High School had a 100-watt FM radio station licensed to the school district. It was used to train kids in broadcasting. A Newport graduate who had majored in journalism at Eastern Washington University supervised the program," Tucker said.

By the time he graduated from Newport High School in 1978, Tucker was station's assistant manager. But the manager of the radio station "was too political for the small town. So they kicked him out and I followed him to Portland," he said.

Thereafter Tucker worked DJ gigs at weddings, private parties, and Top-40 nightclubs.

One night, while working at a club in Tigard, Oregon, the owner of Raintree Restaurants and Night Clubs offered Tucker a job in Seattle at double his current salary.

"I couldn't believe I was getting paid to play music," he recalls. "I played everything from the Beatles to ZZ Top to Bon Jovi to Michael Jackson to Prince. I also played disco stuff popular at that time."

Tucker worked with two Seattle booking agents who kept him busy. In 1987 they sent him to Ketchikan, Alaska, where he played music at the Frontier Saloon.

"I'd never been to Alaska before-what an adventure! The agents shipped all my amplifiers and hundreds of pounds of records," he said. "At that time CDs (compact discs) were first starting to come out, and I also had a cassette tape library and top-40 music videos. The job was supposed to last only two weeks, but I stayed for over a year."

But eventually Tucker decided he was getting too old to be a top-40 DJ. "When (artists) came out with this thing called rap music, I just couldn't handle that," he said.

So Tucker changed direction and enrolled in truck-driving school. "Because I grew up on the farm," he said, "I could drive anything with wheels. I hadn't driven semis, but I was driving dump trucks by age 14."

After a three-month course, he took a job with Peninsula Truck Lines and spent the next 15 years driving throughout the state. At one point, the company transferred him from Seattle to Yakima. "It was real challenging during the winter," he recalled. "But I loved driving in the ice and snow and never had a ticket or an accident."

When a disability ended his trucking career, Tucker returned to his DJ roots by starting a company in Yakima. "At that time, my company was the only DJ business in the state accredited by the Better Business Bureau," he said.

Unfortunately, lingering arthritis forced him to shutter that business as well. "I just couldn't haul my gear in and out (of venues). For five or six years, I could hardly walk," he said.

After a divorce Tucker headed to Spokane. "I was retired but kept busy volunteering at 'Project id' (projectidspokane.org)," he said. "The organization gave handicapped and disabled people a place to socialize. It was one of the neatest things I've ever done."

Why did Tucker move to Ritzville last October?

"My landlord in Spokane decided to raise the rent," he said. "At the time (the move) was out of desperation. I had made offers on many places around Spokane, but ended up losing them all. Someone would always outbid me."

Then he found a newly-remodeled and affordable house in Ritzville.

"I don't have any kids and I'm not married anymore, so my one-bedroom house here has everything I need," he said. "God had a plan and here I am."

As a newcomer, what are his general impressions of the town?

"I've never met nicer people in my life," he said. "You drive down the street and even if people don't know you, they wave. That's something you just don't get in Spokane. Also, I don't have to worry about getting mugged in the alley and my truck hasn't been broken into."

Nevertheless, in Tucker's view, the town suffers from two crucial shortcomings: "How in the world can you have a town with no Chinese restaurant or pizza place?"