Carl Tucker

Carl Britton Tucker
Florence, SC

Carl Britton Tucker, a serial entrepreneur, prominent real estate broker, historic home restorer and former Dean of Students at Chesterfield Marlboro Technical College, died on October 12, 2013, from pneumonia and lung surgery complications. He was 81.

Mr. Tucker started numerous, successful businesses: Christmas tree sales, soybean farm, tree farm, plant nursery, mini-bike rental and trails, motocross race track, automotive sales, real estate sales, real estate investing and salvage lumber. When starting the first motocross race track in northeastern S.C. in the early 1970s, Tucker first had to acquire the help of a state senator to change the law that prohibited all forms of racing on Sunday. The track attracted many of the top professional riders in the Carolinas for several years. As a real estate broker, Mr. Tucker assisted many home owners in selling their older and historic homes in the Pee Dee area in the 1980s.

In 1986, Mr. Tucker bought ramshackle Roseville Plantation near Florence and began the arduous task of restoring it. Roseville Plantation, built in 1771 after a royal grant from the King of England, was the home of Ada Bacot Clarke during the Civil War and remained in her family's possession for more than 100 years. She was a nurse during the war who kept extensive diaries, which were published in 1994 by the University of South Carolina Press.

Anita Clarke Curl, great-granddaughter of Ada Bacot Clarke, said, "It was not until 1986 when Carl Tucker purchased Roseville that restoration was thought possible. With enduring patience and painstaking craftsmanship, he reclaimed the glory of the old house. Roseville stirs the senses and emotions. Moss swaying from gnarled, twisted limbs beckons one to discover what lies at the end of the avenue. There one finds the rustic grandeur of a South Carolina home that has aged gracefully through the years. It evokes a sense of pride in our past and the need to treasure and preserve this spot of sunshine called Roseville."

Roseville Plantation made headlines throughout the South in 1997 when Pee Dee Electric Cooperative started condemnation proceedings to secure a site for a Honda manufacturing plant. Mr. Tucker contested the legal action and refused to sell his home to Honda. "You can liken Mr. Tucker to David, going up against the Golaith-like machine of county officials, industrial developers, an international corporation and, worst of all, his fellow townsfolk. You can use his case to think about your own principles. What is too precious to lose at any cost?" wrote Jennie Buckner, editor of The Charlotte Observer. "It's refreshing to see someone place a value on history and on a sense of place."

The Honda plant was later built on another site in Florence County, and Roseville Plantation was showcased in Preservation magazine by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, featured on HGTV's Restore America, awarded Florence County's 11th historical marker in 95 years by the South Carolina Department of Archives and History, and placed into the National Register of Historic Places by the National Park Service.

In 2004, Mr. Tucker led a racially diverse group of local preservationists and cemetery descendants to acquire a historical marker for the Roseville Plantation Slave and Freedman's Cemetery. According to an archaeological study performed by the Chicora Foundation, the cemetery is one of the largest, containing as many as 250 graves, and best documented antebellum African-American cemeteries in S.C. The cemetery was used for 200 years from the 1770s to 1970s. "Old Father" Adam Brockinton from the Revolutionary War period and Cato Brockinton, who served Major William Cannon at the First Battle of Bull Run during the Civil War, are buried there.

"I am forever grateful to Carl Tucker for his wonderful leadership in helping us to commemorate the lives of the beloved people resting in this cemetery," said Vivian Guyton, a Brockinton descendant. "Part of my roots began with my great-great grandparents who are buried here. There is a feeling of being connected to them. I take great pride that my history, my children's history and my descendant's history will forever be marked here."

Carl Britton Tucker was born on September 15, 1932 in Mt. Croghan, S.C. He was the 11th of 12 children born to Benjamin and Maude Tucker. He dropped out of high school for a year, but later returned to earn his diploma. Mr. Tucker then graduated from Clemson University in 1955 and taught school for several years. In 1963, Mr. Tucker earned his Masters degree from N.C. State University. He was hired as Chesterfield Marlboro Technical College's first Dean of Students and served in that position for many years in the 1970s. Mr. Tucker is survived by his wife, Eleanor; sisters, Margaret Roth and Rachel Neal; sons, Britt (Renee) Tucker and Scott (Traci) Tucker; and six grandchildren, Ava, Brooks, Crista, Evan, Skye and Trace.

Funeral Services for Mr. Tucker will be 2:00 PM Thursday, October 17, 2013 at Miller-Rivers-Caulder Funeral Home Chapel, 318 E. Main Street, Chesterfield, SC with interment to follow in the Mt. Croghan Memorial Park. The family will receive friends from 1:00 - 2:00 PM Thursday, prior to the service at the funeral home.

Miller-Rivers-Caulder Funeral Home of Chesterfield SC (www.mrcfuneralhome.com) is serving the Tucker family.

Funeral Services for Mr. Tucker will be 2:00 PM Thursday, October 17, 2013 at Miller-Rivers-Caulder Funeral Home Chapel, 318 E. Main Street, Chesterfield, SC with interment to follow in the Mt. Croghan Memorial Park. The family will receive friends from 1:00 - 2:00 PM Thursday, prior to the service at the funeral home.